As bushfires and floods fuel public concerns in Australia about global warming, the country’s powerful mining lobby is facing increasing pressure from investors to drop support for new coal mines, according to a dozen interviews with shareholders in global mining companies.
Nearly a third of shareholders in BHP Group, the world’s biggest miner, last year voted for resolutions to axe its membership in industry groups advocating policies counter to the Paris climate accord, which aims to limit global warming to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius.
Although the resolutions failed, pressure from shareholders and the public has since increased on companies to ensure lobby groups support the Paris goals."Emissions-exposed companies face a growing risk not only of Australian policy change, but also of international action," said Stuart Palmer, Head of Ethics Research at Australian Ethical, a wealth manager invested in BHP. He cited the risk of Australia being hit with carbon-import duties, which the European Union is planning to impose on goods from countries with less strict climate policies.