Renewable energy company Drax Group has launched a new corporate sustainability framework. The sustainability framework encompasses 26 time-bound targets grouped under three pillars: climate, nature, and people; laying out the actions Drax is taking on sustainability across its business operations.
“Our new sustainability framework signals a significant change in the way Drax manages its impact on the environment, communities and nature,” said Miguel Veiga-Pestana, Drax Group Chief Sustainability Officer. “Throughout the process we have listened to and learned much from the wide variety of stakeholders who have helped us develop this plan, which will be key to helping to ensure Drax can provide renewable biomass power generation as sustainably and responsibly as possible for years to come.”
The sustainability framework means reaching net zero by the end of 2040 across the value chain, supporting biodiversity across Drax sites by the end of 2030, seeking to make a positive contribution to the lives and livelihoods of Drax employees, communities, and workers in the supply chain, and transparency around sustainable biomass sourcing. A key to the framework is the biomass sourcing policy, which tightens Drax’s already rigorous sourcing policy to keep pace with evolving science and rising industry standards and governs all the biomass Drax handles.
To be climate positive, Drax’s aim is to have a net positive impact on the climate by reducing emissions to net zero, source biomass only from well-managed forest, and removing carbon for good. Under the nature positive pillar, Drax is committed to not only protecting nature, but actively enhancing it by avoiding negative impact and delivering positive impact. Lastly, the fundamental value of the people positive pillar believes that energy transition can and should benefit everyone. This is done through building an inclusive workplace, promoting fundamental rights, and partnering with communities.
The sustainability framework is the result of listening to critics, engaging with experts, reviewing previous successes, and looking back at Drax’s setbacks, all with the goal of ensuring we are on the right path.
To learn more about Drax’s corporate sustainability framework, visit Our Approach – Drax Global.
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Contact Information:
Caroline Bleay
Communications Manager, Canada
780-502-1571
[email protected]
About Drax
Drax Group’s purpose is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future and in 2019 announced a world-leading ambition to be carbon negative by 2030, using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technology.
Drax’s around 3,000 employees operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production and supply to third parties. For more information visit www.drax.com/ca/
Pellet production and supply:
The Group has 18 operational pellet plants and developments with nameplate production capacity of around five million tons a year.
Drax is targeting eight million tons of production capacity by 2030, which will require the development of over three million tons of new biomass pellet production capacity. The pellets are produced using materials sourced from sustainably managed working forests and are supplied to third party customers in Europe and Asia for the generation of renewable power.
Drax’s pellet plants supply biomass used at its own power station in North Yorkshire, England to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses, and also to customers in Europe and Asia.
