BHP and Amazon Pilot Copper Emissions Credits at Escondida

BHP and Amazon have established what the miner described as an industry-first copper pilot to buy and sell credits for lower greenhouse gas emissions associated with copper concentrate and cathodes produced at the Escondida mine in Chile, BHP announced on September 22, 2026.

The pilot aims to demonstrate a potential industry framework for purchasing the credits, known as Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs), which are applied only to emissions within copper supply chains. BHP said buyers increasingly want to understand and influence the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the copper used in their products and infrastructure.

The certificates are created by copper producers and sold to downstream users, recognizing emissions reductions in the supply chain. Buyers can retire the certificates against the greenhouse gas emissions of copper in their supply chain. Under the pilot, Amazon can retire EACs against copper it uses in power, cooling and compute infrastructure, including the circuit boards, chips, interconnects and cold plates that enable AI. A definition note in the announcement states that the system BHP and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are piloting is known as in-setting rather than off-setting because the credits are only applied to emissions in copper supply chains, and the note references an RMI assessment of book-and-claim for the copper sector.

BHP said it is difficult for a physical tonne of copper to carry clear environmental information all the way through the supply chain because it moves through multiple stages of smelting, refining, fabrication and manufacturing before it reaches the end user. The company presented the pilot as an example of what a credible framework to create EACs for copper could look like, namely one that can be verified, traced and registered to safeguard against double counting. The pilot aims to help the industry develop a future market for lower emissions copper EACs by exploring eligibility criteria, a governance framework, and safeguards against potential double counting.

BHP Group Sales and Marketing Officer Michiel Hovers said he was pleased to work with Amazon on a first-of-its-kind initiative in the copper value chain to recognize and reward this aspect of environmental performance and product transparency.

“As global copper demand grows, customers and end users of copper are increasingly focussed on security of supply and increasingly looking to source credible, verifiable, sustainable attributes,” he said.

“This pilot could help develop a practical pathway to connect lower emissions copper producers with end users of copper who want credible and verifiable lower emissions materials – like Amazon, whose cloud infrastructure uses copper in a diverse range of applications with complex supply chains.”

Book-And-Claim Assessment

The pilot was examined in Turning Buyer Demand into Low-Carbon Copper Production, an initial assessment of book-and-claim for the copper sector published by RMI on September 18, 2026 and co-authored by staff from RMI, Amazon and BHP.

According to the report, copper is transformed, blended and traded across multiple tiers before reaching end products, while physical low-emissions copper may not be available through a buyer’s existing suppliers, geographies or procurement channels. These challenges can dilute the value of downstream demand signals and make it difficult for producers to capture the value of investments in emissions reduction.

The report describes book-and-claim as one potential way to address these challenges by separating verified environmental attributes from the physical copper, allowing buyers to support verified low-emissions production even when physical sourcing and traceability are difficult, while creating a more direct commercial signal for producers. The approach can complement, rather than replace, longer-term efforts to improve physical traceability and procurement of low-emissions copper.

The pilot tested how core elements of a book-and-claim system, including eligibility, transactions, claims and reporting, could work in a real transaction context, according to the report. The exercise involved BHP’s Escondida mine, AWS and RMI, with independent copper asset and emissions data from Skarn Associates, and used both copper concentrate and hydrometallurgical copper cathode produced through the SX-EW route.

The report identifies the design choices, implementation challenges and market infrastructure needed to develop a credible book-and-claim system for copper, and highlights areas requiring further collaboration: Scope 3 accounting and allocation, emissions thresholds and baselines, claiming practices, verification, certification, registry infrastructure and governance. The findings are intended to support copper producers, downstream buyers, standards bodies, industry associations and other stakeholders in shaping the next phase of market development.

Escondida

Escondida is the world’s largest producer of copper concentrates and cathodes, according to BHP’s asset page for the mine. The copper porphyry deposit is located in the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile, 170 kilometres south-east of Antofagasta, and mine construction was completed in 1990. BHP operates the mine and owns 57.5% of it in a joint venture with Rio Tinto (RIO ), which holds 30%, and Japan-based JECO Corp, which holds 12.5%. The mine’s two pits feed three concentrator plants and two leaching operations, one oxide and one sulphide. BHP states the mine is an important part of the Chilean economy, accounting for several percentage points of GDP.

BHP states that it ceased extracting groundwater for operational purposes at Escondida 10 years ahead of schedule and has announced a move to 100% renewable power by the mid-2020s. In the pilot announcement, the company said the mine sources its electricity demand from renewable energy and runs on desalinated water, and that Escondida supplies copper concentrates and cathodes to help meet global copper demand, developed into materials and products for uses like digital systems and energy infrastructure.