Veolia Strengthens Its Leadership in Ecological Transformation With the Validation of Its Accelerated Decarbonization Trajectory by SBTi

• The SBTi has praised Veolia’s net-zero ambition, recognized as the most ambitious among those it tracks.
• Veolia becomes the first company to obtain double validation of its climate commitments by two leading international rating agencies: SBTi and Moody’s. 
• As the first Group to display erased emissions for its clients who are part of Scope 4, Veolia contributed to eliminating 13.8 Mt of emissions in 2023.

August 7, 2024 /3BL/ - A few months after the launch of its new strategic GreenUp program, which plans to accelerate its decarbonization trajectory, Veolia has taken a significant new step in its climate strategy by obtaining the validation of its objectives by the Science Based Targets initiatives (SBTi), the international reference in this field. The SBTi notably praised the Group’s net-zero ambition, recognized as the most ambitious among those it tracks. 

At the heart of Veolia’s performance model, decarbonization is a powerful driver and a source of value creation for the Group and its clients in the long term. This pragmatic and action-oriented approach allows Veolia to display significant progress in achieving its objectives. Particularly, concerning the 1.6 billion euro program to convert coal-based energy production assets to less carbon-intensive energies or the development of local decarbonizing energy.

Veolia was the first Group to display erased emissions for its clients who are part of Scope 4¹ which it actively supports at the global level to accelerate the ecological transformation and particularly the decarbonization of industrial and economic activities. In 2023, Veolia contributed to erase 13.8 Mt of emissions.

Overall, the emission reduction targets of the Group’s validated climate trajectory are aligned with a 1.5°C trajectory set by the Paris Agreement. These targets are part of the GreenUp strategic program:

• 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2032, notably through the acceleration of our investments to phase out coal in Europe and capture biogas at our waste storage sites
• Increase of 50% in erased emissions for our clients (Scope 4) by 2030
• Achievement of carbon neutrality by 2050

Furthermore, the international rating agency Moody’s also analyzed and recognized the quality of Veolia’s transition plan, awarding the company an overall score of NZ-2 (on a scale of NZ-1 to NZ-5), and praising the ambition and solidity of its short-term implementation. This is based in particular on the use of proven technologies by the Group and a higher than average return on transition investments.  

Veolia thus becomes the first company to obtain double validation of its climate commitments by two leading international organizations.