The climate candidate who has BHP sweating

Crikey

In a battle that will be a proxy for the political brawl in Canberra and elsewhere between business, climate change believers and the Abbott government, BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, has told shareholders to reject a noted climate change activist who has nominated himself for the company's board.

The activist – former coal company executive Ian Dunlop – has a resume that would cause any mining company here or around the world to consider him, with decades of high-level experience in the industry. But BHP chairman Jacques Nasser and the rest of the board have resorted to the tired canard that Dunlop is a "single-issue" candidate and therefore not suited to the boardroom of BHP.

Dunlop, a former Shell Coal executive, is as experienced in the area of mining and coal mining as any non-executive member of the company's board. As BHP is one of the world's biggest coal miners (and a significant producer of oil and gas) and the world's biggest coking coal exporter, Dunlop would be well suited to the boardroom.

He has decades of experience in energy resources, infrastructure and international business, including 27 years with the Royal Dutch Shell Group. He was senior executive and has director level experience in oil, gas and coal exploration and production. He is a past chairman of the Australian Coal Association in 1987-88 and the Australian Greenhouse Office experts Group on Emissions Trading (1998-2000) and was chief executive of the Australian Institute of Company Directors from 1997-2001. He is a fellow of Institute of Company Directors, the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Energy Institute (UK), a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME (US) and a member of The Club of Rome.

But in the notice of meeting for the AGM in late November in Perth, released yesterday morning, Nasser urged shareholders not to vote for Dunlop. Nasser also urged shareholders to vote for the rest of the board members up for re-election at the meeting:

The board also referred to his climate change activism, calling him a "single-issue" candidate not suited to the role. In the material supporting his nomination, Dunlop said:

But in the meeting, Nasser told the board:

Dunlop's nomination will be opposed by the federal government, which seems to be heading down the route of benign neglect on this issue. But his nomination will test the growing number of investment and super funds that have an ethical approach to investment that extends beyond pure returns and profits.

This article was originally published by Crikey on September 25. Republished with permission.