OMV’s industry association memberships in alignment with the Paris Agreement
OMV, the integrated, international oil and gas company based in Vienna, clearly recognizes that climate change is one of the most important global challenges today and acknowledges the goals set forth by the Paris Agreement. Yesterday, OMV announced an update of its 2025 climate targets and disclosed its ambition to achieve net-zero emissions in operations by 2050 or sooner.
As part of the company’s commitment to transparency on climate action, OMV intends to report not only on its own position and action on climate change but also on the position of the industry associations of which OMV is a member. A review process was established in early 2020 to ensure that the main associations of which OMV is a member also support the Paris Agreement. Twelve key industry association memberships have been reviewed under consideration of whether its memberships remain appropriate. OMV is continuously monitoring this issue and will report on it annually going forward.
The twelve associations described in the report were selected for their relevance to OMV’s business and on the basis that they are actively involved in energy policy discussions. Six of the associations focus on Austria and Germany, four focus on EU-wide policy, and two focus on international policy.
For the report, OMV analyzed whether the associations had publicly stated their support for the goals of the Paris Agreement or their support for nationally determined contributions, i.e. national targets set to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
“OMV's strategic reorientation towards petrochemicals and our climate targets are a clear commitment to the Paris Agreement. It is therefore important to us that all relevant associations of which we are a member are in full agreement with the position of OMV and thus with the Paris Agreement,” Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV.
While all associations analyzed in this report were in alignment with OMV’s position on the Paris Agreement, this may change in the future. In the case of misalignment, especially partial misalignment, OMV will first advocate for changes in the association’s position. Where OMV’s position and an association’s position continue to fail to align, OMV will reassess the membership. If OMV is not able to influence the association to adopt a more aligned position on a highly material issue, it will consider ending its participation or membership.
Please find the report here:
REVIEW OF OMV’S INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIPS: ALIGNMENT WITH THE PARIS AGREEMENT (PDF, 1,7 MB)
Background information:
OMV Aktiengesellschaft
OMV produces and markets oil and gas, innovative energy and high-end petrochemical solutions – in a responsible way. With Group sales of EUR 23 bn and a workforce of around 20,000 employees in 2019, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV has a strong base in Central and Eastern Europe as well as a balanced international portfolio, with Middle East & Africa, the North Sea, Russia and Asia-Pacific as further core regions. Daily average production was 487,000 boe/d in 2019. In Downstream, OMV operates three refineries in Europe and owns a 15% share in ADNOC Refining and Trading JV, with a total annual processing capacity of 24.9 mn tons. Furthermore, OMV has a 36% participation in Borealis, one of the world’s leading producers of polyolefins. The Company operates about 2,100 filling stations in ten European countries. OMV runs gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany; its subsidiary Gas Connect Austria GmbH operates a gas pipeline network in Austria. In 2019, gas sales volumes amounted to around 137 TWh. Sustainability is an integral part of OMV’s corporate strategy. OMV supports the transition to a lower-carbon economy and has set measurable targets for reducing carbon intensity and introducing new energy and petrochemical solutions.