Caring for our planet
Biodiversity
Our aim is to support biodiversity where we operatea.
We plan to deliver this by:
- Aiming to achieve net positive impact (NPI) on all new in-scopeb projects.
- Implementing biodiversity enhancement plans at our major operating sites.
- Collaborating with others to support selected biodiversity restoration projects.
Net positive impact in our projects
Since 2022 we have made consistent progress in applying our NPI methodology to our new in-scope projects.
At an early stage of development, projects are reviewed against specific applicability criteria (for example, scale of impact) to assess what action we need to take. Based on these criteria, if we think there could be significant impacts on biodiversity, before any planned or possible mitigations are taken into account, an NPI plan is required.
By the end of 2025 six projects were either implementing or developing NPI plans.
For example, the Northern Endurance Partnership in the UK has developed a biodiversity action plan using our methodology and it intends to invest in marine biodiversity enhancement projects to support harbour porpoises. In Azerbaijan the bp Karabagh project is actively working with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to mitigate impacts on protected gazelles from a planned onshore fabrication yard.
Biodiversity enhancement at our major operating sites
We aim to implement biodiversity enhancement plans (BEPs) at our major operating sites, prioritizing those located in biodiversity-sensitive areas.
At the end of 2025 all our major operating sites in these areas had developed or started to implement BEPs in line with our 2025 target. These operations are Cherry Point (US), Tangguh LNG (Indonesia), Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (Mauritania and Senegal) and our operations in Trinidad and Tobago, and Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye (AGT).
Biodiversity restoration
Since 2022 we have provided funding for eight biodiversity restoration projects, located in the UK, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Türkiye and the US. We have also run restoration feasibility studies in India and Georgia.
These projects include a shrubland restoration in Türkiye, led by the Nature Conservation Centre in partnership with the General Directorate of Forestry, which in four years has helped restore more than 22,000 hectares of habitats.
Water
Our aim is to reduce our net freshwater use in stressed catchments where we operate.
We aim to deliver this by:
- Being more efficient with freshwater use in our operations.
- Collaborating with others to replenish freshwater in stressed catchmentsc.
We anticipate that by 2028 our freshwater withdrawal in these catchments will be covered by freshwater management plans.
Being more efficient with freshwater use in 2025
Since 2020 we have reduced freshwater withdrawals (excluding once through cooling water) by 15% and freshwater consumption by 15% against the baselined. Reductions in 2025 were the result of operational water efficiencies, offset by some increase in development operations in bpx energy, Haynesville, US.
At our major operating sites, 13% (2024 11%) of our total freshwater withdrawals and 22% (2024 20%) of freshwater consumption, were from regions with high or extremely high water stress in 2025.
Improving water efficiency in 2025
At Lingen refinery (Germany) we added a mobile wastewater treatment unit to an existing water recycling system. This enables the refinery to reuse wastewater in its industrial processes. This resulted in a saving of approximately 0.35Mm3 of freshwater in 2025.
In the US, at our Whiting refinery, a condensate recycling project resulted in a 1.03Mm3 per year reduction in freshwater withdrawals and at our bpx energy Eagle Ford facilities we invested in two more water wells and a holding pond. These enable us to use brackish water (non-freshwater with higher salinity) instead of freshwater in our development operations. Nearly 1Mm3 of brackish water from these wells was used in 2025 with an additional 2.1Mm3 sourced from existing brackish water wells.
Collaborating to replenish fresh water
To help achieve our 2025 water target we invested in a portfolio of replenishment projects. We engaged the services of LimnoTech to assess the impact of our collaborations to replenish water using volumetric water benefits accounting methods published by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in 2019. We currently have 13 collaborative projects complete or nearing completion in Azerbaijan, India, Egypt and Mauritania.
Improving access to clean drinking water in India
Several projects are ongoing in Gujarat, including three new ones launched in 2025. Together they will provide drinking water to around 100 communities. We have already helped to provide clean water for 60 villages since 2024, with 6.72Mm3 of clean water provided in 2025 alone. Key to the success of these projects is the use of innovative technology, community training and strong local partnerships to improve public health and promote sustainable practices.
Footnotes:
a At our new in-scope bp operated projects and major operating sites.
b New bp operated in-scope projects where planned activities have the potential for significant direct impacts on biodiversity are required to develop NPI action plans for those activities.
c The threshold bp uses for stress is based on a water stress level of ‘high’ or above, as defined by the WRI Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas. bp determines areas of water stress using either the WRI Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas or site-specific local data sources.
d The 2020 baseline for freshwater withdrawal is 96.4 million m3 per year and for freshwater consumption is 55.9 million m3 per year.
