Switzerland’s Varo Energy has set out its new environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) targets with the publication of its first ever ESG report.
The targets are intended to help Varo achieve its target to be net zero by 2040 and provide services for customers for the energy transition, outlined in its transformation strategy announced earlier in July 2022. The company said then it would invest US$3.5 billion (€3.42 billion) in the strategy from 2022-2026, with two wo new units will be known as ‘engines’, one focussed on conventional energy and one focussed on sustainable energies.
In developing its ESG strategies, Varo consulted with internal and external stakeholders, including employees, customers and NGOs, and identified 23 ESG issues of ‘material impact’, including greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency and equity, inclusion and diversity.
For scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions (direct emissions and indirect emissions from the company itself), Varo has set an interim target of an absolute reduction of 40% by 2030. For scope 3 emissions (indirect emissions from the value chain), it has set a target of an absolute reduction of 15% by 2030. It will be net zero by 2040. More than two-thirds of its energy will come from renewable sources by 2023, and to that end, it has already launched a number of initiatives. The first phase of its green hydrogen project at the Bayernoil facility in Germany is underway and has installed the largest ground-mounted solar park in Switzerland at its Cressier manufacturing hub.
Varo says that its ESG strategy is ‘built around expanding renewable capital investments, investments in repurposing existing infrastructure and leveraging long-term strategic partnerships.’ To that end, it has already taken a majority stake in Silvicarbon to invest in carbon-lowering forestry projects, and in numerous hydrogen projects, as well as developing turnkey charging solutions for customers with electric vehicles. By 2030, it has set a target of repurposing existing infrastructure, building and acquisitions will mean to produce 500,000 tonnes of waste-based biofuels and 1,500 GWh of biomethane/bioLNG production.
Varo has also committed to improving representation across the company, including ensuring equal pay for all employees in all countries, ensuring that 50% of office-based employees are female by 2030 and that 50% of senior management will be female by 2030.
‘Our ESG strategy is central to our plan to create long-term value and is based on industry leading, rigorous and transparent ESG targets. Our role provides us with industry insights which enable us to empower our customers as they pursue their own decarbonisation ambitions. Critical to our plans is the integration of an ESG-focused approach in our overall governance and internal controls, and the oversight of both the Supervisory Board and Executive Board,’ says Ernestina Benedetto, executive vice-president, strategy and transformation.
Varo recently appointed Fatemeh Rezazadeh as its first vice-president (VP) of hydrogen, also as part of its transformation strategy.
