“BHP says UN climate change conference will bring consensus”, 26 Aug 2015

BHP Billiton chief executive Andrew Mackenzie…said BHP expected to play its part in region by region climate targets, should consensus for such targets emerge from the Paris conference…Despite being one of the world's biggest coal miners and a major producer of oil and gas, BHP has long accepted science that suggests humans are influencing the climate by releasing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere…Fossil fuel producers have been split in the lead-up to the Paris conference, with big energy companies like Woodside Petroleum and Norwegian company Statoil urging the world to abandon coal in favour of gas as a way to reduce emissions. Mr Mackenzie has been one of several coal producers to criticise the comments, labelling it a "marketing strategy" and a "rich country solution". "I think there is a marketing ploy, which is 'give up coal and burn more gas'," Mr Mackenzie told the FT. "The last time I looked there was plenty of carbon in methane and there is huge amounts of carbon in oil, and the carbon emissions from transport are just as much a problem as the carbon emissions from coal-fired power stations."…