Iberdrola presents the most ambitious Climate Action Plan for COP27
Iberdrola presented its Climate Action Plan at COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt), the most ambitious, according to the company itself, presented by a company at the Summit, which brings forward the goal of carbon neutrality of generation plants, its electricity distribution activity and its own consumption (scopes 1 and 2) to 2030, and the total decarbonisation of its activities by 2040. With this, the company has become the energy company with the most ambitious targets in this area.
Iberdrola has also presented its Biodiversity Plan, which aims to achieve a net positive impact on species and ecosystems by 2030. The Plan addresses the impacts of the group’s activities on nature throughout the life cycle of its facilities, considering the supply chain and creating environmental, economic and social value through ecosystem services.
The United Nations, the European Investment Bank and the We Mean Business coalition, which includes leading environmental non-governmental and business organisations such as CDP, WBSCD and Corporate Leaders Group, have expressed their satisfaction with Iberdrola’s plans.
Iberdrola’s executive chairman, Ignacio Galán, spoke online about the current situation. “The current crisis has further reaffirmed the need to accelerate electrification with renewables and electricity grids to achieve full decarbonisation and energy self-sufficiency. After 20 years of trajectory, the Climate Action Plan is a new boost to Iberdrola’s commitment to zero net emissions as a means to preserve the environment and generate employment and industrial development. The next decade will be crucial if we are to meet climate targets and protect biodiversity, and we must all work together today to achieve them.
Iberdrola’s roadmap was detailed in the framework of the round table “Renewed ambition in the face of the current multiple crisis” in which the European Investment Bank, represented by its Director of Mandate Management, Christoph Kunh, among other institutions, also participated; the International Energy Agency, through its Chief Economist, Tim Gould; Gonzalo Muñoz, Climate Champion of the United Nations; Patricia Zurita, CEO of Birdlife International and Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
During the meeting, moderated by the CEO of We Mean Business, María Mendiluce, the plan presented by Iberdrola was positively assessed, also from the conservation sector, as it constitutes an advanced action in the fight against climate change.
At the round table, it was made clear that, in the current “multi-crisis” context (climate, energy, inflation, biodiversity, etc.), Iberdrola’s new plans should serve as an example to continue to make progress in the fight against global warming, responding to the calls from the scientific, environmental and social world.
The plans presented in Egypt consolidate Iberdrola as a business leader in the fight against climate change and for the protection of biodiversity, with ambitious targets based on science and fully backed by its investment plan. The company announced last week in London a record plan of 47 billion euros until 2025, with more than 27 billion euros earmarked for networks, and investments of 17 billion euros in renewable energies, to reach network assets of 56 billion euros and a renewable capacity of 52,000 MW by the end of the period.