We will join and remain members of an industry association if we believe the association can provide one or more of the following benefits to BHP: 

• Advocating for a policy and regulatory landscape that supports member companies – associations can pursue this outcome through a range of means, including by lodging submissions, appearing before inquiries, meeting with officials, commissioning research, issuing media releases, responding to media queries, and commissioning advertising.
• Developing and maintaining standards on issues of importance to our business.  
• Facilitating improvements in our own practice – associations can contribute to this outcome in a number of ways, including by enabling the sharing of best practice, publishing data to strengthen decision-making, hosting events to bolster member company initiatives, and using their convening power to bring together different stakeholder groups.   

Our principles for participating in industry associations are available here.

It is a requirement under BHP’s mandatory minimum performance requirements for external engagement that approvals are required before joining an industry association. As part of the approvals process, each prospective association is subject to due diligence and compliance checks (which includes consideration of their alignment on climate policy). We also consider whether our membership of the association is necessary, relative to our existing memberships and the proposed membership fee. The approval process is renewed every two years. 


The Board approves significant social, community and sustainability policies, including those related to climate change and public sustainability goals and targets. Senior management oversees the day-to-day implementation of climate-related advocacy policies and practices. Information about our approach to advocacy on climate policy, including BHP’s direct advocacy, is available here. 


Our 2025 industry association review report assessing the climate policy advocacy of our material association memberships was approved by our Board in June 2025. Our 2025 industry association review was overseen by the Chief Legal, Governance and External Affairs Officer. Detailed work was led by the Group Sustainability and Social Value team, with the assistance of our Corporate Affairs, Investor Relations Group Governance and Legal teams. We commissioned an external party (ERM) to collect publicly available information on the associations’ advocacy (e.g., from association websites, government consultation processes, news reports and social media). 


More information on our 2025 industry association review can be found below.  

BHP is a member of many industry associations around the world. These associations tend to serve one of the following four purposes:  

• General – the association seeks to support and advance issues of interest to the general business community in a particular jurisdiction.  
• Sector-specific – the association seeks to support and advance issues of interest to a specific sector or a specific commodity.  
• Issue-specific – the association seeks to address a specific issue or technical challenge.  
• Bilateral/local – the association seeks to facilitate knowledge-sharing and relationship-building between different countries or within a local community. 

We also differentiate between our material and other association memberships. We consider an industry association to be ‘material’ if it meets at least one of the following two ‘materiality’ criteria at the relevant time of assessment (for example, when conducting an industry association review or disclosing our current industry association memberships): 

• our base annual membership fee is equal to or greater than US$100,000; or 
• there is significant stakeholder interest in the climate policy advocacy of the association (as determined by whether the association is listed on InfluenceMap’s ranking of industry associations).  

Our most recent list of the industry associations of which we are a member, categorised by materiality, their home country and their broad purpose, is available here. 

Our approach to indirect advocacy on climate policy comprises the following elements:  

• We clearly communicate to industry associations (via our Climate Policy Principles) our views on how governments can best pursue the aims of the Paris Agreement.  
• We use our positions on industry association boards, committees and working groups to seek to influence the climate policy advocacy of the relevant associations.  
• We monitor in real time the advocacy of our material association memberships – to give us the best opportunity to address any potential misalignments as soon as they occur. We engage with associations, where appropriate. Depending on the response, we may disclose on our website the misalignment if we deem it to be material and steps we have taken in response (see below for more detail).  
• We periodically conduct industry association reviews (see below). 

The findings and outcomes of our previous industry association reviews can be accessed via the links below:  

• 2023 industry association review: Update (published in 2024) 
• 2023 industry association review 
• 2019 industry association review 
• 2017 industry association review 

Where we identify potential misalignment, we take steps in line with our principles for participating in industry associations. Our preference is to engage with the relevant association and seek a change in its advocacy. If we are unable to convince an association to change its advocacy to address any material misalignment, we will consider a range of steps, including: 

• publicising that the material misalignment exists  
• imposing conditions on our membership (such as requesting that the association communicate that its advocacy relating to the identified area of material misalignment does not represent the views of BHP) and/or 
• suspending or ceasing our membership of the association. If we suspend our membership of an association, this will involve withdrawing BHP funding and participation from the association, subject to any contractual, legal or otherwise binding membership requirements 

Low Emission Technology Australia (LETA)

LETA (previously known as Coal21) is an industry-funded body tasked with identifying, researching and developing low emissions technologies (LETs). We engage with LETA regarding its communication campaigns and, where appropriate, raise our views with LETA’s management and/or the LETA Board.