Energy, economy and environment: the stats on sustainability
What happens to old oil platforms? How much do BP staff donate to good causes? What’s BP’s gender balance? Why is BP helping to count turtles in Angola? The answers to all these questions and many more are found in the annual Sustainability Report, out now
$245.5 billion
The total economic value generated by BP globally in 2017. As well as boosting domestic supplies and helping countries to meet and secure their energy needs, BP’s activities create jobs, drive economic development and generate tax revenues for governments.
38%
BP helped to deliver this proportion of all the gas supplied to China’s most populated province, Guangdong, last year. Gas produces around half the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of coal when burned to generate power.
Guangzhou, China. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock
14,000
BP directly employs about this number of people in the US across its diverse business portfolio, from retail to wind, petrochemicals to offshore oil and gas production. The business also supports more than 100,000 jobs across its supply chain there.
50%+
More than half of the hours worked by BP are carried out by contractors. So, their skills and performance are vital to the business’s ability to carry out our work safely and responsibly. BP’s standard model contracts include health, safety, environmental and security requirements. And for contractors facing the most serious risks, there are quality, technical, health, safety and security audits before awarding contracts. Once work starts, BP continues to monitor their safety performance.
650+
The number of BP employees affected by flood damage to their homes as Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, US, in 2017. BP America’s headquarters in Houston were also flooded, but contingency plans for natural disasters kept businesses running. For example, for 200 BP traders and their families, this meant a temporary move to Dallas, to back-up trading facilities 250 miles away inland.
BP volunteers helping local residents in the clean-up after Hurricane Harvey
~70%
The amount of biopower generated at BP’s biofuels sites that goes to the local electricity grid. Biopower is created by burning bagasse, the fibre that remains after crushing sugar cane stalks. This is a low carbon power source with the CO₂ emitted from this burning offset by the CO₂ absorbed by sugar cane during its growth.
$7.4 million
The amount contributed personally by BP employees to good causes around the world, then matched with grants of $7.7 million by the BP Foundation. The Foundation also provides money for humanitarian relief activities and in 2017 made donations totalling $700,000 to support the aftermath of hurricanes and floods in the US and the Caribbean, earthquakes in Mexico and wild fires in the US.
34%
The proportion of women in the BP population in 2017, up from 33% in 2016 and 32% the year before. The business is working to raise this proportion further by, for example, developing mentoring, sponsorship and coaching programmes to help more women advance. The goal is for women to represent at least 25% of group leaders – the most senior managers – by 2020.
~1,000
The number of people who received training on labour rights and modern slavery in 2017. BP’s training covers specific aspects of human rights in an operational context, such as workforce welfare, relationships with indigenous people, livelihood and security. All staff, contractors, communities and other third parties are encouraged to speak up if they see something they think could be unsafe or unethical. BP’s confidential global helpline OpenTalk is administered by an independent company and available 24/7 in more than 75 languages by phone or online.
View across the Khazzan gas facility in Oman
⅔
The proportion of freshwater withdrawn by BP that is returned to the environment, after treatment to applicable regulatory standards. Water is required for drilling, hydraulic fracturing and other upstream production processes, and it is an essential component in refining, petrochemical and biofuels production.
$478 million
The amount spent with more than 200 US minority and women’s business enterprises in 2017. BP partners with organizations, such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council, to provide mentoring and training programmes to businesses so they can develop their skills and become more competitive when bidding for contracts.
23,400
The number of critically endangered marine turtles recorded by a BP-supported project with Agostinho Neto University in Angola. Since launching in 2010, the initiative has raised community awareness of the role that these turtles play in marine coastal systems and more than 950 people have taken part.
97%
The proportion of materials, the majority of which is steel, that will be reused or recycled from BP’s Miller platform in the UK North Sea. When it was time to decommission the platform after 15 years in operation, BP evaluated how to use UK suppliers to carry out the work and what opportunities there were to recycle its materials.
