On February 17, 2021, we announced our goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from our operations by 2030.

This commitment to climate action reinforces our core purpose to displace coal, grow more trees, and fight climate change.

We set forth an ambitious plan for eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from our operations in keeping with international climate goals, including the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.


John Keppler
Executive Chairman

At Enviva, fighting climate change is at the core of what we do. For more than a decade we have played a critical role in helping the world’s energy producers substantially reduce their net carbon emissions by using sustainable bioenergy, enabling them to phase out coal, support increases in forest carbon stocks, and provide reliable, affordable energy to their communities.

But the climate crisis demands urgency in action. It requires all of us to work harder. So today, Enviva is announcing its plan to reduce, eliminate, or offset 100 percent of our carbon emissions. Providing clean energy solutions to others is not enough. Enviva is now taking steps to dramatically reduce the climate impact of our own operations by undertaking its goal to become net zero in its operations by 2030.

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As part of the Net-Zero Operations goal:
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We will reduce, eliminate or offset all of our direct emissions

We will immediately work to minimize the emissions from fossil fuels used directly in our operations – our Scope 1 emissions. We will accomplish this by improving energy efficiency and adopting innovative and improved lower-emission processes.

  1. As our efforts to minimize the use of fossil fuels and improve the efficiency of our operations will take time and continue to mature, in the interim, Enviva will offset 100% of its residual emissions through investments in projects that result in real, additional, and third-party verified net-carbon reductions.
  2. Enviva will focus on forest offsets created in the U.S. Southeast as part of its partnership with Finite Carbon and others, building on its experience working directly with private landowners.
  3. We plan to work with key stakeholders and others who are investing in high-quality offsets that ensure real and verifiable benefits, prioritizing those created from forest management, afforestation, and reforestation projects.
  4. We are committed to ensuring that our reductions and offsets meet the strict test of ‘additionality.’ What this means is that any carbon reductions that we achieve would not have happened without Enviva’s participation and direct investment.
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We will source 100% renewable energy by 2030

To reduce the emissions arising from our electricity purchases in our operations - our Scope 2 emissions - we pledge to source 100 percent renewable energy for our operations by no later than 2030, with a target of at least 50 percent by 2025.

  1. Today, all of the fuel utilized in our drying operations is already provided by 100 percent renewable resources, but we still use electricity from the grid.
  2. Our manufacturing operations are located in the U.S. Southeast, where electricity generation relies heavily on coal and natural gas and where market structures make renewable energy supply more difficult than in many other parts of the U.S. We recognize that efforts are underway to transition the grid in our operational region to lower-emissions sources and we intend to play a positive role in accelerating these trends. We will work with renewable energy suppliers to generate zero-carbon renewable energy for our operations.
  3. We will seek to both maximize the use of on-site renewable energy generation at our facilities, as well as to develop new off-site renewable energy resources physically located in our regions where possible.

Our work to implement clean energy solutions will be most effective if we can work with other businesses who share our commitment. We have joined the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, a consortium of over 200 businesses committed to large-scale purchases of clean renewable energy, and we look forward to working collaboratively toward our shared goal of a resilient, zero-carbon energy system.

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2019 Total GHG Emissions

We will drive innovative improvements in our supply chain

To address emissions generated as part of our upstream and downstream value chain — our Scope 3 emissions - we commit to proactively engage with our partners and other key stakeholders to adopt clean energy solutions.

  1. Given the durability and consistency of our operations, particularly with respect to transportation logistics. We believe our business provides a unique opportunity to test innovative approaches for supply chain decarbonization. We commit to work with our stakeholders to improve the environmental emissions intensity of trucking, rail and shipping logistics, and we commit further to take steps to accelerate and advocate for the development of new solutions and to work with our stakeholders to bring these solutions to market.
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We will transparently report progress

  1. Enviva will track and publish our progress in reducing our emissions. We will annually report on all emissions: Scope 1 (direct emissions from our manufacturing), Scope 2 (indirect emissions from energy we purchase), and Scope 3 (indirect emissions in our value chain). We also commit to disclosing climate-relevant data and risks through CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) by the end of 2022.
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We will transparently report progress

  1. Enviva will track and publish our progress in reducing our emissions. We will annually report on all emissions: Scope 1 (direct emissions from our manufacturing), Scope 2 (indirect emissions from energy we purchase), and Scope 3 (indirect emissions in our value chain). We also commit to disclosing climate-relevant data and risks through CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) by the end of 2022.
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Our Key Partnerships

We will accomplish these goals in partnership with our key stakeholders, including direct engagement with our customers, who share our commitment to achieving immediate and measurable carbon emissions reductions and, in many cases, are pursuing not only net-zero carbon emissions strategies, but also projects including innovations like Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) where we believe Enviva can help pioneer a carbon-negative solution. We are also aware that many partnerships occur through organic engagement with like-minded companies who are similarly oriented toward leadership and action in the climate space.

In 2021, we have joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a CEO-led organization with 200+ members around the world, and we look forward to working with other members who share our commitment to solving the climate crisis with real, tangible solutions.

“WBCSD congratulates Enviva on setting an ambitious emissions reduction plan to achieve net zero in their operations by 2030. Their leadership as a global renewable energy company specializing in sustainable wood bioenergy is a welcome addition to the Forest Solutions Group, the leading global platform to advance the bioeconomy and sustainable development in the forest sector value chain.”

Diane Holdorf, Managing Director, Food & Nature at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

This very public pledge to mitigate climate change at all levels of our operations by minimizing our own carbon footprint further extends our commitment to keeping forests as forests and to responsible and sustainable wood sourcing. I feel privileged to be at the helm of our climate action plan, which is an important component to accelerating Enviva’s sustainability efforts. Working collaboratively across the company and with key stakeholders, we have defined this concrete and actionable plan that, consistent with our forest-based operations in the U.S. Southeast, will enable us to achieve immediate, additional, and measurable emissions reductions. I look forward to executing this innovative plan to achieve carbon neutrality in our own operations by 2030.


Jennifer Jenkins, PhD
Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer

The Road Ahead

With our climate action commitment, Enviva’s sustainability journey accelerates. As the world moves toward a low-carbon, circular bioeconomy, with less and less reliance on fossil-based products, our natural systems — such as forests — are critically important for our net-zero future. We must all continue to be careful stewards of our land-based systems, and in this way, our work is tightly aligned with the world’s leading authorities on climate science, including the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel (IPCC) on Climate Change. According to the IPCC, “a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks – while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fiber, or energy from the forest – will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit for climate change.”

Enviva has an ambitious climate change vision. We can reduce emissions now while growing forests and displacing fossil fuels. We can also take action within our own operations to eliminate our carbon footprint. These actions will require courage, innovation and a lasting commitment, which today we proudly make.