Climate change and recovery after the pandemic are two of the top issues facing directors today and the BHP board and management have made them a focus, BHP chair Ken MacKenzie FAICD told the AICD in an interview. He will speak at the 2022 Australian Governance Summit to be held in Melbourne in March.
The year 2022 will put an important rebuilding and repositioning opportunity in front of many boards, as it has done for the BHP board, BHP chair Ken MacKenzie FAICD told the AICD in a recent video interview.
“I think the last two years have been challenging for everyone, but I truly believe that corporate Australia has been very resilient through this pandemic and we're all starting to see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. There's an important rebuilding and repositioning opportunity in front of us.”
In particular, climate change, digital disruption, cybersecurity and recovery from the pandemic are major issues for boards going forward, he said.
BHP itself had concentrated on climate change and this had attracted attention at the company’s AGM last year. “We had a big ‘say on climate vote’ at our AGM ….. with strong support from our shareholders.”
BHP had also undergone a company transformation and announced a large investment in a new commodity, potash, plus the merger of its petroleum business with Woodside. It had also unified its dual listed structure where the primary listing is in Australia and secondary listings are in London, New York and Johannesburg, a “very exciting” move.
He said he is looking forward to discussing opportunity and innovation at the AGS in March. “There's no doubt that the world is getting more complex for business and for boards, and I think one of the key issues for boards is to find a way to cut through that complexity, and identify issues that are relevant to them that are important to their business case.”
MacKenzie will give a special address to the 2022 Australian Governance
Summit, to be held on March 2 and 3.
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