UN Sustainable Development Goals

With our renewable and circular solutions, we contribute to the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). We recognize the strategic importance of the SDGs to our business and the world and we are committed to helping achieve them.

Neste has identified nine priority SDGs as the goals we most significantly contribute to and have used the SDG Compass to determine them. In 2021, Neste joined the UN Global Compact SDG Ambition Accelerator. This provided us with the opportunity to review our current performance and discover new opportunities for contributing to the SDGs.

Our priority SDGs are presented below:

SDG

SDG 7 SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

  • Neste increases the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by producing and selling low-emission renewable fuels for road transportation and aviation. 

  • Neste aims for 100% renewable electricity use globally by 2023. This target is to be achieved ahead of schedule in Finland with the hydropower agreement with Vattenfall.

​SDG 8 SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

  • Neste actively takes steps to protect labor rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, with special attention to vulnerable groups.

  • Neste is committed to implementing effective measures to eradicate forced labor, modern slavery, and child labor. Neste respects and supports children’s rights and provides good-quality employment, education and training for young people. We have also joined the Consumer Goods Forum’s Human Rights Coalition.

SDG 9 SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure 

  • Neste’s growth and transformation is rooted in innovation and technology. We invest the majority of our annual R&D expenditure in research and testing future raw materials and technologies.

  • In 2022 Neste, for example, became the first Finnish company to receive IPCEI status from the European Commission for its hydrogen projects, which led to awarding public funding for Porvoo refinery hydrogen projects aiming to develop solutions for renewable hydrogen production.

SDG 10 SDG 10 Reduced inequalities 

  • Our human rights ambition for 2030 is to create a more equitable and inclusive value chain, in which everyone works with dignity. This includes requiring and securing minimum living wage, advancing responsible recruitment practices in line with the Employer Pays Principle, increasing children’s access to education and reducing inequalities across the value chain.

  • Neste is involved in the WBCSD Business Commission to Tackle Inequality; FIBS Diversity Charter Finland; a signatory to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles; Diversity Roundtable by BCG and UN Women Finland; joined two Unilever Partner Promises.

  • In 2022, Neste completed a major update of its Human Rights Principle, which covers a number of topics critical to addressing inequality.

SDG 11 SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

  • Neste creates value for the society and helps customers to reduce GHG emissions by offering lower-emission renewable fuels to aviation and road transportation. Reducing emissions in transportation will also decrease the pollution in cities. 

  • Neste helps the aviation industry to reduce local airport emissions with the use of Neste’s SAF.

SDG 12 SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production 

  • Neste refines waste, residues and innovative raw materials into renewable fuels and sustainable feedstock for plastics and other materials, and is the world’s leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel and renewable feedstock solutions for various polymers and chemicals industry uses. 

  • We have set an ambition to make our Porvoo refinery the most sustainable refinery in Europe by 2030. We are also conducting a feasibility study to examine technologies to pretreat and upgrade liquefied waste plastic in Porvoo and in 2022 we teamed up with Circularise to increase visibility along circular polymer and chemical value chains.
     

SDG 13 SDG 13 Climate Action

  • Neste's climate vision is to lead transformation towards carbon neutral value chain by 2040. Our climate commitments cover the entire value chain (Scope 1, 2 & 3). Read more about the climate commitments.

  • Neste includes its climate commitments into long-term incentives for Neste’s key personnel and its climate impact into the investment criteria.

  • In 2022, Neste launched a strategic study on transitioning its Porvoo refinery to a renewable and circular site and ending crude oil refining in the mid-2030s.

SDG 15 SDG 15 Life on Land

  • Our vision is to drive a positive impact on biodiversity and achieve a nature positive value chain by 2040. We aim to create net positive impacts for biodiversity from new activities from 2025 onwards.

  • We are committed to combating deforestation and requires the same from its suppliers.

  • We engage in ongoing local activities to protect biodiversity, such as through biodiversity assessments, and we work closely together with partners who have a strong understanding on biodiversity and have joined the Science Based Targets Network’s (SBTN) Corporate Engagement Program (SBT framework for nature).

SDG 17 SDG 17 Partnerships

  • Partnerships are at the core of the SDGs and we see them as the key to advancing sustainable business.

  • Some examples of our partnerships in 2022 include aviation industry’s first ever CORSIA certified sustainable aviation fuel delivery to American Airlines and first flight in history with 100% sustainable aviation fuel on a regional commercial aircraft with ATR and Braathens.

  • In addition, we are members of several organizations and councils to collaboratively advance action on sustainability, e.g. The Nordic Business Network for Human Rights, WBCSD, Consumer Goods Forum’s Human Rights Coalition, Forest Positive Coalition, and the Palm Oil Collaboration Group. Read more.