Media release

BHP and MCA at loggerheads on coal, again

Media Comment 25 January 2018

Commenting on the results of BHP’s review published today, executive Director of Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) Brynn O’Brien said:

“BHP’s decision to cut ties with the world’s peak coal lobby, the World Coal Association is a seismic shift in the world of anti-climate lobbying.

“It is an emphatic market signal that the era of aggressive anti-climate lobbying is no longer acceptable. ”It is further proof that a small group of responsible investors can have a positive influence on a company’s behaviour. “However, BHP’s equivocation in relation to membership of the MCA, in giving the MCA another 12 months to change its tune on coal, points to the highly-charged environment in which climate policy is made in Australia. “It is also unsatisfactory that BHP continues to withhold full details of the amount of shareholder funds spent on memberships. “There was a time that supposedly responsible corporates could get away with shelling out shareholder funds to climate dinosaurs; that time is over. The MCA and their ilk have been put on notice.

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CONTACT

Brynn O’Brien ACCR Executive Director +61 423 951 316

Brami Jegan Holdfast Communications  +61 448 276 945