On February 17, 2021, we announced our goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from our operations by 2030.
This commitment to climate action reinforces our core purpose to displace coal, grow more trees, and fight climate change.
We set forth an ambitious plan for eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from our operations in keeping with international climate goals, including the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
John Keppler
Executive Chairman
At Enviva, fighting climate change is at the core of what we do. For more than a decade we have played a critical role in helping the world’s energy producers substantially reduce their net carbon emissions by using sustainable bioenergy, enabling them to phase out coal, support increases in forest carbon stocks, and provide reliable, affordable energy to their communities.
But the climate crisis demands urgency in action. It requires all of us to work harder. So today, Enviva is announcing its plan to reduce, eliminate, or offset 100 percent of our carbon emissions. Providing clean energy solutions to others is not enough. Enviva is now taking steps to dramatically reduce the climate impact of our own operations by undertaking its goal to become net zero in its operations by 2030.
Our Key Partnerships
We will accomplish these goals in partnership with our key stakeholders, including direct engagement with our customers, who share our commitment to achieving immediate and measurable carbon emissions reductions and, in many cases, are pursuing not only net-zero carbon emissions strategies, but also projects including innovations like Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) where we believe Enviva can help pioneer a carbon-negative solution. We are also aware that many partnerships occur through organic engagement with like-minded companies who are similarly oriented toward leadership and action in the climate space.
In 2021, we have joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a CEO-led organization with 200+ members around the world, and we look forward to working with other members who share our commitment to solving the climate crisis with real, tangible solutions.
“WBCSD congratulates Enviva on setting an ambitious emissions reduction plan to achieve net zero in their operations by 2030. Their leadership as a global renewable energy company specializing in sustainable wood bioenergy is a welcome addition to the Forest Solutions Group, the leading global platform to advance the bioeconomy and sustainable development in the forest sector value chain.”
Diane Holdorf, Managing Director, Food & Nature at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
The Road Ahead
With our climate action commitment, Enviva’s sustainability journey accelerates. As the world moves toward a low-carbon, circular bioeconomy, with less and less reliance on fossil-based products, our natural systems — such as forests — are critically important for our net-zero future. We must all continue to be careful stewards of our land-based systems, and in this way, our work is tightly aligned with the world’s leading authorities on climate science, including the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel (IPCC) on Climate Change. According to the IPCC, “a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks – while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fiber, or energy from the forest – will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit for climate change.”
Enviva has an ambitious climate change vision. We can reduce emissions now while growing forests and displacing fossil fuels. We can also take action within our own operations to eliminate our carbon footprint. These actions will require courage, innovation and a lasting commitment, which today we proudly make.