Italy’s Eni on Friday followed energy industry peers to raise its climate ambitions by pledging to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 after mounting investor pressure to cut greenhouse gas emissions. CEO Claudio Descalzi said the company’s sustainability plans included the full decarbonization of all its products and process in 2050. Eni shares rose by more than 3% after the announcement and gained 1.2% by 1615 GMT on Friday, outperforming the European oil and gas index which gained 0.5%.
In 2020, Eni said it planned to reduce its absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030 and by 65% by 2040, from 2018 baselines. Eni’s plan is in line with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s intention to boost the country’s green hydrogen and renewable energy production. Eni’s rivals have also set ambitious targets to slash greenhouse gas emissions from their operations.
Eni said the 2050 emission reduction target would come from carbon capture, rising biofuel production, higher renewable capacity, forestry projects, and other green initiatives. To accelerate the transition, Eni will also acquire assets to raise its renewable capacity to 60 GW in 2050 from 300 MW today. The company also plans to divest assets worth more than €2 billion ($2.43 billion) to help develop green projects such as biorefineries and carbon capture and storage units.
Eni also revealed plans to merge its retail and renewable businesses. The merger will be part of Eni’s €7 billion (8.49 million) annual investment plans for the next four years. About 20% of the investments would go into green projects. Despite the transition plans, Eni expects its oil and gas production to increase by 4% per year. Its oil output is projected to peak by 2025, while gas would contribute to 90% of the portfolio in 2050.
