Eni's commitment to offset its customers’ carbon footprint

Every action we perform results in the emission of CO₂ or other greenhouse gases, leaving a trace in the atmosphere that is referred to as “carbon footprint”. More precisely, an individual's carbon footprint is the sum of all greenhouse gas emissions produced in daily activities, including emissions from the products they consume.

It is expressed in tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, a unit of measurement which takes into account the different climate-changing potential of each greenhouse gas by relating it to that of carbon dioxide. Average, it is estimated that the annual carbon footprint is 6 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent for each European citizen, 14 tonnes for a US citizen and 8.2 tonnes for a Chinese citizen (IEA 2021 data). An important part is related to energy consumption.

Although it is impossible not to leave a carbon footprint, we know we can reduce it. The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its report titled World Energy Outlook sets out ten guidelines to ensure the energy transition, which can be summarised in five basic principles:

• investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency are crucial to get out of the current crisis
• global energy security cannot be achieved without everyone's involvement
• the shift away from oil and gas must be managed gradually and carefully
• new vulnerabilities are emerging from the construction of a new decarbonized global energy system
• the transition needs the initiative of governments, but also competitive markets that can ensure its economic sustainability.

Our commitment is to develop a portfolio of fully decarbonized products and services by 2050. To achieve this, we are taking a number of actions using proprietary and breakthrough technologies, creating new business models and working closely with stakeholders. 

Eni has included in its Net Zero al 2050  target the offsetting of net GHG emissions related to the end use of its own products and services or those purchased from third parties. From a technical point of view, these fall into the scope 3 category, i.e. they are produced by “third parties” (scope 1 are generated directly by the company's own activities, scope 2 by the use of energy purchased from others, scope 3 upstream and downstream of the company’s business, e.g. from suppliers or customers). 

Eni focuses on new products such as bio-methane, biofuels and hydrogen: the emissions generated by their use by customers will have already been offset upstream by Eni, through projects for CO₂ capture, storage and reuse (CCUS) or for the protection of natural ecosystems (Natural Climate Solutions - NCS).

In November 2022, the European Commission issued the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requiring all companies to publish data on their environmental and social impact, starting with large companies by 2025 and then including SMEs.

Here too, Eni has been ahead of the times as it has been publishing Eni for, its own voluntary sustainability report, since 2006. Over the years, the report has been enriched with thematic documents and one of the main topics is the actions to achieve scope 1, 2, 3 carbon neutrality by 2050. We have dedicated the first chapter in the A Just Transition report to the path to net zero emissions, describing strategies and key climate and decarbonisation targets, together with business evolution from today until 2050.

For its transparency and accuracy, today Eni for is considered one of the best corporate reports in the world by insiders, so much so that in October 2022, for the fourth year in a row, it was included in the top ten reports of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).