Adnoc shaves five years off net zero deadline

Reuters

• Oil giant brings forward zero emissions target to 2045
• Also has disclosed its carbon emissions for the first time 
• Sets target to eliminate its methane emissions by 2030 

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has brought forward its deadline to reach net-zero carbon emissions by five years to 2045, citing its “industry-leading” progress on targets to date as the reason for the change. 

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohmed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, approved the state oil company’s plan to bring the net-zero deadline forward from 2050 in a meeting of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council on Monday. 

He said the revised targets marked a “new chapter” in Adnoc’s journey to a lower carbon future, and urged the company to seek new global partnerships to help it achieve its goals. 

Adnoc also set a target of eliminating methane emissions from its activities by 2030.

And for the first time it disclosed the emissions from its own operations – these stood at around 24 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2022. 

• Abu Dhabi ramps up its climate action strategy
• Masdar and Adnoc agree trio of green hydrogen deals
• Bold, practical, ambitious: delivering on Cop28

The UAE is preparing to host the United Nations’ Cop28 climate change conference later this year, with Adnoc’s chief executive Sultan Al Jaber as president-designate.

The Emirates supplies around 4 percent of the world’s oil, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (IEA).   

Decarbonising its operations and focusing on sustainability more broadly is a key plank of Adnoc’s long-term growth strategy.

It is investing in renewables, getting involved in global hydrogen production and distribution, and advancing climate technology solutions and mitigation tactics such as planting mangroves in the UAE. 

To meet the earlier net zero deadline set today, Adnoc said it plans to “increase investments in and double down on decarbonisation efforts, backed by an initial $15 billion allocation to low-carbon solutions”. 

The company’s upstream carbon intensity was around 7 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per barrel of oil equivalent – among the lowest in the world, it said, and it plans to cut this by 25 percent by 2030.