Revealed: the internal BHP memo that slammed the brakes on world's biggest miner's climate push

London experienced a severe 2019 heatwave with record temperatures, deaths among vulnerable people, and disruptions to rail operations due to risks to tracks and power lines. Similar extreme heat occurred across Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. During the hottest week in late July 2019, BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie delivered a climate speech in London to prominent political and diplomatic figures. He warned that dependence on fossil fuels created existential risks, stating that global heating was undeniable and would have catastrophic consequences for many species. He called for the largest global mobilization since World War II, while BHP later pledged emissions reductions from its operations and targeted net zero by 2050.

"Mackenzie warned that the world's dependence on fossil fuels was causing risks that could be existential. Global heating was indisputable, he said, and would have catastrophic consequences. The planet will survive, he said. Many species may not. BHP files: leaked memo shows miner backtracking on key climate projects in Australia video Here was one of the most powerful corporate leaders in the world making an impassioned call to arms on the problem his company helped cause."

"Mackenzie said global warming required the biggest global mobilisation since World War II. The company later pledged to reduce emissions from its operations, largely from energy and diesel use at its mines, by 30% by 2030 and had already set a goal to reach net zero emissions by 2050. It also sought to curtail indirect emissions from the use of its iron ore and coal by others which at that stage were the equivalent of pollution from roughly 126m cars."

"In the middle of 2019, London was sweltering through a heatwave. Temperature records tumbled. Frail, ill and elderly people died in their hundreds. In a city not built for heat, trains were brought to a halt. Railway lines threatened to buckle and sagging power lines caused spot fires along the tracks. Across the channel, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany also hit record temperatures."

"Six years after Mackenzie's speech, long after he had left the company, senior BHP executives were presented with an internal memo dated May 2025. The memo was about the company's plans to decarb"

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