The theme

The importance of forests and the main causes of their degradation

Forests cover just over 31 percent of the global land area. Furthermore, they play a critical part in pulling excess carbon out of the atmosphere. Every year, the deforestation of millions of hectares is one of the main causes of an increasing concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere. The degradation of forests and the reduction of their territorial coverage results from:

• unsustainable extensive agricultural practices
• illegal logging
• unsustainable use of biomass for energy purposes
• urbanization phenomena

These phenomena contribute to increasing CO₂ emissions of anthropogenic origin and significantly reduce the natural absorption capacity of carbon in the atmosphere, in addition to increased emissions linked to industrialization. 

Eni has made forest conservation projects one of the pillars of its decarbonization strategy, which aims to achieve zero net emissions by 2050. Forest conservation projects are one of the strategy’s key pillars and form part of a broader framework of actions that aim first to reduce emissions caused by industrial activities, and to offset the emissions that cannot be reduced with existing technologies (known as “hard to abate emissions”).

By recognizing the important and growing role of Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) in limiting global warming below 2°C and by fostering sustainable community development and biodiversity conservation, Eni promotes interventions mainly focused on tropical forests. Interventions take place especially in developing countries, which are considered by scientists to be among the most important at an international level to contribute to climate change mitigation strategies.

In carrying out forest protection and conservation interventions, Eni supports local governments, local communities and United Nations agencies, contributing to the achievement of the following Sustainable Development Goals.

Eni’s commitment in this area follows the United Nations REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) scheme, which envisions forest conservation activities with the aim of reducing emissions and improving the natural storage capacity of CO₂ as mitigation and adaptation actions against climate change. Along with climate and environmental benefits, these projects bring important benefits in terms of social and economic development of local populations, allowing the creation of new working opportunities as well as real economic diversification.

Eni is committed to developing projects that will generate an equivalent ton of carbon credit that can be used to offset carbon emissions for each ton of carbon not emitted into the atmosphere as a result of the actions against deforestation, which are difficult to break down with current technologies. To ensure the quality of credits generated, Eni’s projects currently adhere to the high certification standards known as Verified Carbon Standards (VCS) and Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB).