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Social investment

Social investment supports our overall approach to contributing to the creation of social value. We believe we are successful when we work in partnership with communities to achieve long-term social, environmental and economic outcomes.  

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Our strategy
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Our approach and position
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Governance and oversight
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Engagement, disclosure and performance
 

Our approach and position

Whether we are providing support to local farmers in Chile or partnering with Indigenous ranger groups in Australia, social investment is our voluntary contribution towards initiatives that have the primary purpose of contributing to beneficial outcomes for communities and the environment.  

In the last five years, BHP has funded over US$775 million partnerships through social investment, with a continued focus on human capability, economic development, social inclusion and environmental restoration. 

Our strategy

Our social investment strategy aligns with our social value framework and 2030 goals. This strengthens our approach towards partnership, listening and co-creation1, and recognises that addressing challenges such as community and environmental resilience requires close collaboration with our partners and stakeholders.  

The strategy frames BHP’s approach to voluntary social investment across all levels of the organisation and is underpinned by four guiding principles – that social investments are: Integrated and coherent, Enduring, Risk-based and social-value-oriented, and Solution-focused and outcome-driven.  

The strategy aims to contribute to addressing global sustainable development challenges by aligning to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), being guided by the relevant UN Global Conventions and committing to work in partnership with others to achieve shared goals.  

Social investment delivery model 

We partner with a diverse range of community groups, national and global institutes, government bodies and non-profit organisations to understand shared sustainable development challenges under our social value framework pillars and associated focus areas. Social investment focus areas to contribute towards our 2030 goals are shown in Our approach to social investment below. The progress of our social investments is monitored against the outcomes BHP will contribute to (shown below) for each of the social value framework pillars. 

We use information gathered in collaboration with our partners and stakeholders and pair it with research in order to plan and prioritise our social investment spend. The four guiding principles outlined above assist our teams to ensure investment opportunities are co-designed and implemented in an equitable manner that respects relevant local customs and contributes to meaningful, lasting change. 

Footnotes: 

1 Co-creation is a strategic approach involving the integration of diverse partners’ resources, knowledge, and networks to resolve complex collective challenges or realise more enhanced outcomes through collaboration. It places BHP within a larger ecosystem where stakeholders actively participate in project development and delivery. For an overview of our approach to co-design and co-creation (terms which we use interchangeably) refer to the BHP Annual Report 2025, Operating and Financial Review 9.11 – Community. 

Our approach to social investment 

Governance and oversight, engagement, disclosure and performance

  • Governance
    For information on the role of the BHP Board in overseeing our approach to and delivery on sustainability refer to the Sustainability approach webpage. 
  • Engagement 

    As a global company, we operate in diverse jurisdictions and interact with various community and non-government organisations, government bodies and research institutions. Through regular engagement with our stakeholders and research into environmental, workforce, community and supply chain concerns, we seek to understand, manage and respond to the expectations, priorities and risks faced in each of these areas.  

    At the local and regional scale, our Community and Indigenous Engagement team members are closely connected with our partners in the communities where we operate and engage to understand their priorities and challenges. At the national and global scale, the Sustainability and Social Value function and subject matter focused technical functions connect with industry bodies, think tanks and research organisations to understand challenges related to our industry that often transcend national boundaries, such as climate change, human rights and public health crises. We recognise the significance of two-way dialogue in highlighting concerns and perspectives and considering stakeholder perspectives is a core element of our approach. For more information on our engagement refer to the Local communities webpage.   

  • Disclosure  

    Monitoring and evaluation are fundamental to our global social investment approach. We use a suite of metrics designed to aggregate and report performance against our social investment focus areas aligned to each social value framework pillar. We consistently assess and quantify the outcomes and impact of our Group-wide social investment. 

    Our total social investment is internally monitored and verified each quarter, then externally assured annually and publicly disclosed in our Annual Report and Economic Contribution Report, and as relevant in our Modern Slavery Statement and Australian Indigenous Social Investment Report. 

  • Performance 

    In FY2025, our voluntary social investment totalled US$127.8 million and resulted in the accomplishments shown below1. This investment consisted of US$92.5 million in direct funding for initiatives in line with our social value framework, US$19.7 million to non-operated joint venture social investment programs and US$1.3 million under the BHP Matched Giving Program. Administrative costs to facilitate social investment activities2 totalled US$8.6 million and US$5.7 million supported the operations of the BHP Foundation3.  

    Of the US$92.5 million in direct funding, US$70.1 million was in support of our host communities and Indigenous partners, and we provided US$13.9 million towards training and skills programs.   

    Footnotes: 

    1 Social investment outcomes indicator reporting is sought for project and donations >US$100,000 annually and are reported to us by our partner organisations. 
    2 The direct costs associated with implementing social investment activities, including labour, travel, research and development and communications. 
    3 The BHP Foundation is a charitable organisation established and funded by BHP, which works in partnership with internationally recognised institutions, think tanks and non-government organisations to address some of the most critical sustainable development challenges facing society that are directly relevant to the resources sector. 

  • Other 

    Matched Giving Program

    We are proud to support the organisations that are important to our employees. Through our Matched Giving Program, BHP matches personal donations made by our employees to eligible not-for-profit organisations at a ratio of 2:1, meaning that for every dollar donated by our employees BHP donates two dollars. 

    Our Matched Giving Program currently features over 100 eligible organisations around the world. 

Sustainability case studies, organisational boundary, definitions and disclaimers, and downloads

Prior year versions of some of the listed documents are available on the Past reports page.