Carbon footprint

A carbon footprint is a measure of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product. It is typically measured as tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per defined function or unit.

An organization’s carbon footprint refers to the GHG emissions caused over one year in its own operations, and often also across the value chain. Neste’s carbon footprint includes GHG emissions across the value chain, for example from Neste’s own production sites, logistics and sold products. 

We calculate the carbon footprint of our fuel products over their entire life cycle: from the production of their raw materials to the end use of the final product. The carbon footprint of our other (non-fuel) products, such as our renewable raw materials for new polymers and chemicals, includes the acquisition of the raw materials and their transport, refinery process and the end-of-life treatment of the product. The use of our Neste MY Renewable Diesel™, for example, helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50–90% compared to fossil diesel. Read more about the carbon footprint of our products.

Carbon neutral production by 2035

Neste’s purpose is to create a healthier planet for our children. We do this by offering renewable and circular solutions to our customers. What is more, we also need to commit to reducing the direct climate impact of our own activities. Therefore, we have set a concrete target to reach carbon neutrality in our production by 2035. This is an enormous undertaking, one which will require new ways of thinking, innovation and plenty of cooperation.

All aspects of GHG emissions in Neste’s production will be analyzed. We have already identified more than 100 different measures and actions to decrease GHG emissions in production. For example, we are increasing the use of renewable electricity at our production sites. In order to proceed  with the target to use 100% renewable electricity globally by 2023, Neste has increased the use of renewable electricity at its Porvoo refinery in Finland. We have agreed on wind power deliveries with Statkraft, Ilmatar and Fortum, and a hydropower agreement with Vattenfall. We reached our target of 100% renewable electricity in Porvoo, Finland in January 2022. 

Read more about the different measures from our Sustainability Report.

Carbon neutral value chain by 2040

Since we also need to reduce our Scope 3 emissions, we have also decided to set a concrete target for Scope 3 emissions to reduce the use phase emission intensity of sold products by 50% by 2040 compared to 2020 levels. Our target will be achieved through Neste’s transformation towards increasing the share of renewable and circular solutions as well as working with our suppliers and partners to reduce emissions across our value chain. 

In addition, Neste announced in October 2021 that it will sign the Business Ambition for 1.5°C Commitment Letter, and that it will continue to build on its climate actions so that they are in line with the 1.5 emission scenarios, the criteria and recommendations of the Science Based Targets initiative. However, in March 2022, The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) changed its fossil fuel policy, and will not accept commitments or validate targets from fossil fuel companies for now. Due to this SBTi policy change, we acknowledge that our commitment will not be officially approved by SBTi at this point, but we at Neste will persist on achieving our current sustainability targets to do our part to limit global warming to 1.5°C. 

Read also about our carbon handprint.