Equinor Pledges New Climate Goals
February 06 2020 - 6:34AM
Dow Jones News
By Dieter Holger
Norwegian energy major Equinor ASA (EQNR.OS) said Thursday that
it would reach carbon neutrality from its operations by 2030, boost
renewable energy tenfold by 2026 and cut its carbon intensity by at
least half by 2050.
"It is a good business strategy to ensure competitiveness and
drive change towards a low carbon future," said Eldar Saetre,
president and chief executive of Equinor, in prepared remarks.
The company said it aims to become a major generator of offshore
wind energy with an overall renewable capacity of up to 6 gigawatts
by 2026. Equinor expects to have an installed capacity of up to 16
gigawatts by 2035, but plans to still drive oil-and-gas revenue for
investors.
"We will produce less oil in a low carbon future, but value
creation from oil and gas will still be high," Mr. Saetre said,
"and renewables give significant new opportunities to create
attractive returns and growth."
The company's ambition to lower its carbon intensity--the
measure of how much emissions are required for each unit of energy
produced--would also take into account Scope 3 emissions for the
first time, which are indirect emissions from products.
Equinor's move follows shareholder pressure to account for these
emissions, an area that fellow European energy company Royal Dutch
Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) has already pledged to address.
In May, a shareholder proposal that called on Equinor to set
targets on its Scope 3 emissions earned 12% support from investors.
At the time, Mr. Saetre said, "Scope 3 is not my
responsibility."
Follow This, the environmental investor group that filed the
resolution, welcomed the company's change of course.
"It seems Equinor got the message loud and clear," said Mark van
Baal, founder of Follow This.
Still, Mr. van Baal cautioned that Equinor's new target would
only result in an around 30% reduction of absolute emissions when
accounting for growing energy demand.
"Nevertheless, today we applaud Elder Saetre's jump over his own
shadow and will encourage Equinor to set the second and third step
tomorrow," he said.
Write to Dieter Holger at dieter.holger@wsj.com;
@dieterholger
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 06, 2020 06:19 ET (11:19 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024