Contact Lifts Climate Change Ambitions With New Science-based Targets

Contact Energy ('Contact') has committed to ambitious new climate change targets aligned with the goal of minimising global warming to 1.5 degrees and approved by the influential Science Based Target initiative (https://sciencebasedtargets.org/).

In April 2019, Contact was the first New Zealand energy company to set verified science-based targets, and these initial targets were updated in September 2019.

Contact is aiming to reduce overall emissions by more than 45%. This would see a reduction of over 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of removing more than 100,000 petrol cars from the road for a year.

Contact Energy CEO Mike Fuge said the company’s new science-based targets were “very ambitious” but also aligned with Contact’s strategy and decarbonisation agenda.

“We’ve placed renewed effort on enhancing our environmental, social and governance credentials and we’re committed to playing a leading role in the decarbonisation of New Zealand. We all need to understand the urgency and play our part.

“The targets are one thing, but more importantly they will be accompanied by action. We are well under way with several things which will reduce our emissions. This includes building the low emission, renewable geothermal power station at Tauhara, as well as reviewing the future of our thermal portfolio.”

Since 2012, Contact has reduced its overall emissions by 62 per cent. This has been achieved by closing down high-emission power plants, prioritising low-emission fuel options for electricity generation, and completing emission reduction projects across its sites.

Globally, over 1000 companies have registered with the Science Based Target initiative and have collectively reduced their emissions by over 25 per cent since 2015.

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