Sime Darby Plantation Bhd (SDP) has become the world’s first palm oil company to have its net-zero targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
The validation by the SBTi came a year after SDP first announced its commitment to reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its value chain by 2050.
SDP Group Managing Director Datuk Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha said in a statement that the development would spur the company to achieve its net-zero targets with even more urgency.
SDP is one of the first global firms to have near- and long-term science-based emissions reduction targets emanating from ‘forest, land and agriculture’ as well as energy and industrial sources approved by the SBTi.
The company said it will prioritise direct emissions reductions (decarbonisation), while all residual emissions would be neutralised in line with SBTi criteria, along with efforts to eliminate deforestation in the supply chain and further engagement with its suppliers on emission reduction.
Datuk Helmy urged other industry players to commit to science-based net-zero targets as well as to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°. This was in line with the deal reached at the COP28 summit recently in Dubai, where nearly 200 countries agreed to reduce fossil fuel consumption.
It has become everyone responsibility now to address these pressing environmental challenges and ensure the sustainability of the palm oil industry.
