Wood commits to reducing its GHG emissions

GLOBAL engineering and consultancy company Wood has pledged to set a science-based target to reduce its direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40% compared to 2019 levels, by 2030.

The company has pledged to reduce its scope 1 and scope 2 GHG emissions. Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions produced by sources owned or controlled by a company, and scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions produced from generating energy consumed by the reporting company. In 2019, scope 1 and 2 emissions from Wood’s controlling interest activities amounted to 179,587 t CO₂-equivalent.

In addition to minimising its own environmental footprint, Wood’s commitment will ensure it minimises the impact of the technical solutions it provides to its clients. Areas of its work include wind, solar, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, waste-to-energy, as well as solutions to help clients in oil, gas, and chemicals to achieve decarbonisation targets.

Wood’s commitment will also encompass its work in the built environment, designing, planning, and delivering sustainable and less carbon-intensive infrastructures for growing cities.

The company’s target will put it on a trajectory well beyond the 2°C temperature goal set in the Paris Agreement. To achieve its commitment of a low-carbon future Wood will focus on global efficiencies, including minimum standards to reduce carbon intensity from its sites; equipment and vehicle use; the use of renewable energy sources; and sustainable procurement policies.

Wood will formally submit its targets to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which champions science-based targets as a method to help companies transition to low-carbon economy. Science-based targets are those in line with what the latest climate science says is necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement – limiting global warming to well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.

Robin Watson, Chief Executive of Wood, said: “Wood is signalling a clear commitment to lower our carbon footprint in the next ten years to support greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.

“As a member of the United Nations Global Compact and a long-standing contributor to [CDP’s Climate Change programme], we believe in the importance of setting science-based carbon reduction targets. Working with our partners, our people and our communities, we will build a lower carbon world that enables sustainable growth for future generations.

“As well as setting targets for Wood, we see a key role for our business in the global energy transition journey…to support the decarbonisation commitments of companies and governments in a range of industries.”

SBTi is a collaboration between CDP, UN Global Compact, World Resources Institute, and Worldwide Fund for Nature, and one of the We Mean Business Coalition commitments.

SBTi is a lead partner in the Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign, an urgent call to action from a global coalition involving UN agencies, business, and industry leaders. The campaign calls on companies to commit to science-based targets in line with a 1.5°C future, and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.