Five Lessons from BHP Foundation's Natural Resource Governance Program
In 2016, BHP Foundation launched the Natural Resource Governance (NRG) program with the ambition of making investments and forming partnerships that improve the governance of natural resources. Through this work, the Foundation aimed to establish partnerships that would better enable citizens of resource-rich countries to benefit from their countries’ resource endowment.
Part of our work is to use data, evidence and insights to inform strategy, track progress, and adjust when needed, ensuring we are achieving the best possible outcomes and managing the risk of unintended consequences. We commissioned an external evaluation to do this work, conducted by Associate Professor Kathryn Sturman (Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining) and May Miller-Dawkins (May Miller-Dawkins Advisory Ltd), of the Natural Resource Governance Program over a five-year period from 2019-2024.
Reflecting on eight years of work, we share five key lessons that emerged in the evaluation.
Leveraging the natural value chain
BHP Foundation takes a systems approach to its investments – looking at the underlying structures, relationships and dynamics within a system to make lasting change rather than making incremental change or purely addressing symptoms. When designing the NRG program, the natural resource value chain served as the organizing framework, shaping investment decisions across the spectrum from upstream consultation and consent processes to downstream citizen services and infrastructure. The external evaluation highlighted the value chain’s effectiveness in guiding initial investments and creating a cohesive portfolio. However, we learned that by targeting jurisdictions with collaborative interventions and using guiding ambitions such as learning questions, the full potential of the program may have been realised. This reflects our commitment to embedding data, evidence, and feedback, ensuring strategies are systemic, adaptable, and responsive.
The power of locally-led initiatives
A Theory of Change (TOC) was introduced at a programmatic and project level to guide actions towards outcomes and impact and evaluate progress. One of three program outcomes in the NRG TOC was, “informed and empowered communities influencing decisions affecting them through enhanced access to, and use of, information, data and evidence”. This outcome was most successfully achieved when global partners collaborated effectively with local leaders to co-create solutions. These partnerships fostered accountability, inclusion, and context specific approaches that were far more impactful and sustainable. To maximize impact, the external evaluation suggested greater success comes when funders go beyond partnerships and directly support local leaders, shifting power dynamics and enabling local actors to lead and sustain change.
Measuring impact of anti-corruption initiatives
As the Foundation matured it adopted sophisticated tools to measure impact such as project impact frameworks and global indices like the Corruption Perception Index and Resource Governance Index as baselines. Whilst these datasets provided valuable context, the external evaluation suggested they fell short in attributing specific outcomes to individual interventions. Composite indices, influenced by multiple factors, often lag and obscure important progress. A better approach was the use of contextualised indicators - quantitative and qualitive, tailored to specific projects, enabling more precise insight into progress. Embracing tools that recognise context is the best way to measure impact.
Balancing flexibility and strategic focus
Our approach recognizes that sustainability requires both strategic foresight and real time adaptation guided by data and evidence. The program’s ability to respond to emerging issues proved catalytic, unlocking new opportunities and driving transformative change such as inclusion of the just energy transition as an issue area and supporting transparency initiatives in Ukraine. However, this responsiveness required careful balancing to maintain alignment with the program’s overarching goals – emphasizing that strategic agility, although essential, must be anchored in a clear long-term vision. Clear long-term goals provide effective structure, confidence and direction for strategic adaptability.
The value of shared learning
We actively create spaces for shared learning, where partners can exchange insights and build a culture where data, evidence, and reflection shape decision-making, contributing to the broader governance ecosystem. Through skilful facilitation, the program fostered an environment where partners could connect, share and learn that eventually led to collaboration between partners. Activities like partner workshops, in-country collaborations, and ongoing learning conversations-built trust and leveraged collective expertise. These collaborative spaces enhanced problem-solving, strengthened relationships, and ultimately contributed to shared success. Bringing partner organizations together improves their possibility of collaboration and positive outcomes.
Where to from here?
The lessons from the NRG program underscore the importance of intentionality, local ownership, and adaptability in advancing governance and sustainable development. Embedding data use, continuous learning, and local leadership across initiatives offers a promising pathway for driving durable, systemic change. By sharing these insights, we hope to inspire others to pursue innovative, impactful approaches to grant making and governance that drive lasting change.
Read the full external evaluation.
