France-based water and wastewater services and energy provider Veolia announced that its decarbonization targets have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), and that its net zero transition plan has been rated as “Advanced” by international ratings agency Moody’s. The achievements make Veolia the first to obtain the double validation of its climate commitments, according to the company.

The announcement follows the launch by Veolia earlier this year of “GreenUp,” its new 2024 – 2027 strategic program, which included ecological objectives aimed at making the company a leader in decarbonization, depollution and regeneration of natural resources. The GreenUp program included goals for the company to achieve a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2032, notably through the acceleration of investments to phase out coal in Europe and capture biogas at waste storage sites, and to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

The program also includes a “Scope 4” avoided emissions goal to achieve 18 million tons of erased CO2 emissions in 2027 and to increase Scope 3 emissions avoidance for customers by 50% by 2030.

The SBTi is one of the key organizations focused on aligning corporate environmental sustainability action with the global goals of limiting climate change, with key functions including defining and promoting best practice in emissions reductions and net-zero targets in line with climate science, providing technical assistance to companies who set science-based targets, and providing companies with independent assessment and validation of their emissions reduction targets. According to Veolia, SBTI has praised its net zero ambition as the most ambitious among those it tracks.

Moody’s launched its Net Zero Assessment (NZA) scoring system last year, aimed at enabling investors to evaluate and compare companies’ decarbonization plans and actions. NZAs provide an assessment of the strength of a company’s carbon emissions reduction profile relative to a global net zero pathway consistent with the Paris Agreement’s most ambitious goals, considering the entity’s ambitions, as well as its plan and governance around emission reductions. The NZAs utilize a 5-point scale from NZ-1 (highest score) to NZ-5 (lowest score). Moody’s assigned Veolia’s transition plan a score of NZ-2, or ‘Advanced.’

Estelle Brachlianoff, CEO of Veolia, said:

“Veolia is a major player in decarbonization and a company resolutely focused on action. With the GreenUp program launched earlier this year, we have accelerated the pace of our decarbonization objectives, the credibility and robustness of which are now reinforced by the SBTi validation, which recognizes our commitment to ecological transformation.”