Sustainable aviation fuel producer Neste has revised its climate targets, scaling back commitments it set five years ago when it joined the Climate Pledge, citing financial constraints and changes to its investment plans.
In 2020, the Finland-based refiner pledged to cut its operational carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and to achieve carbon-neutral production by 2035. The company said this week that meeting those goals would now require levels of investment that are “not currently realistic”, given its present financial position.
Chief executive Heikki Malinen said the original targets were tied to plans to transform Neste’s Porvoo refinery in Finland into a renewable and circular solutions hub by 2035. “Since we announced the delay of the Porvoo refinery transformation earlier this year, we have conducted a careful assessment of our climate targets to ensure they are ambitious but realistic,” he said.
Under the revised strategy, Neste now aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations by 80% by 2040. The interim target of a 50% reduction has been pushed back from 2030 to 2035.
Malinen said the company’s current finances do not allow for further major capital expenditure beyond its ongoing €2.5 billion investment to expand its renewables refinery in Rotterdam. “As investment projects in our industry take years to complete, the timelines of our climate targets have to be delayed under the current circumstances,” he said.
Neste said its customer-focused climate ambitions remain unchanged, including a target to help reduce customers’ greenhouse gas emissions by 20 million tonnes a year by 2030 and to cut the use-phase emission intensity of its products by 50% by 2040.
“We continue our efforts to contribute to mitigating climate change, while at the same time ensuring sustainable financial performance and long-term success,” Malinen added.
