Italian energy group Eni on Friday set more ambitious mid-term targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions as it aims for carbon neutrality in 2050.
"The war in Ukraine… has created new threats to energy security which we must meet without abandoning our ambitions for a just transition," chief executive Claudio Descalzi said in a statement presenting his new strategic plan.
The United Nations warn that cutting the carbon emissions driving global warming is crucial to curbing damaging climate change over the coming years.
Eni pledged to reduce emissions by 35 percent by 2030 from 2018 levels and by 80 percent by 2040. It previously targeted reductions of 25 percent and 65 percent respectively.
These targets include indirect downstream emissions from use of its products as well as upstream activities — production and exploration.
The group also said it planned to reach net zero in the upstream sector by 2030.
Another challenge posed to governments and companies worldwide by Russia's invasion of Ukraine last month is to reduce dependence on Russian gas.
"Our immediate response to the current crisis has been to leverage our established alliances with producing countries to find replacement energy sources for Europe's energy needs," said Descalzi.
He visited Algeria last month with Italy's foreign minister in a bid to increase supplies from the north African country.
"We can make available to the market more than 14 trillion cubic feet of additional gas resources for the short to medium term," the chief executive said.
The Italian group will invest 7.7 billion euros in 2022 and on average around seven billion a year until 2025.
In total 30 percent of investments will be dedicated to new energy sources by 2025, rising to 60 percent in 2030, according to the company's targets.
Eni reported a net profit of 5.82 billion euros in 2021, according to final accounts published Thursday, after suffering an abysmal loss of 8.63 billion euros in 2020 due to coronavirus.
