BHP Billiton will take action within its own businesses and work with governments, industry and other stakeholders to address the global climate change challenge and find lasting solutions consistent with its goal of zero harm.

The company believes accelerated action is required to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at levels guided by the research of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and has, accordingly, revised its Climate Change Policy.

The four action areas BHP Billiton has identified in its policy are:

- Understanding emissions from the full life-cycle of its products.

- Improving the management of energy and greenhouse gas emissions across its businesses.

- Committing US$300 million over the next five years to support low emissions technology development, internal energy excellence projects and encourage emissions abatement by BHP Billiton employees and its local communities.

- Using the company's technical capacity and experience to assist governments and other stakeholders in the design of effective and equitable climate change policies, including market-based mechanisms such as emissions trading.

BHP Billiton chief executive officer Chip Goodyear says the company acknowledges that the risks of climate change associated with increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere must be addressed.

"BHP Billiton has recognised that our company, as well as society generally, must make real behavioural changes and accelerate technological progress if we are to achieve a meaningful reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

"Our policy is about trying to play our part as best we can and encouraging those we work with to do the same," he says.

"The policy includes new targets to reduce the energy and greenhouse intensity of our products by a further 13% and 6% respectively by 2012. It builds on our previous achievements, which include a 12 per cent improvement in our greenhouse intensity over the period 1996-2000.

"We are on track to exceed our current target of a further 5% improvement by the end of this financial year. We have also contributed significantly to research and development in clean coal technologies, including geosequestration, and have implemented several related programs across the business," Chip Goodyear says. www.bhpbilliton.com