Sustainability Report Our Year 2020
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2020 Sustainability Report Our year 2020 Started construction at Hywind Strengthened our climate Joined Europe’s biggest green hydrogen project, the NortH2 project, which Tampen, the world’s largest ambitions by setting an ambition aims to produce green hydrogen (4 GW by 2030 and 10+ GW by 2040) floating offshore windfarm (88 to reach net-zero emissions by and submitted a proposal with partners to create a low carbon cluster in the MW), aiming at scaling up floating 2050, including emissions from Humber in the United Kingdom. offshore wind and providing power production and use of energy. This to five platforms. adds to the ambitions of achieving carbon neutral global operations Made an investment decision with Signed a MoU with Scatec and by 2030 and cutting absolute Matured the Northern Lights CCS partners to partly electrify the Hydro to jointly develop a 480 MW emissions in Norway to near zero project in Norway to an investment Sleipner field in the North Sea. solar power plant in Brazil. by 2050. decision together with partners. The project was awarded governmental approval and funding through the Norwegian Government’s “Longship” project. Announced an investment decision and financial close on Dogger Bank A Completed an internal (1.2 GW) and B (1.2 GW) in the UK and divested 10% to capture value. investigation report on the long- Launched an offshore wind partnership with BP and divested half of our term oil seepage at the Mongstad shares in Empire Wind and Beacon Wind to capture value. refinery and started follow-up work. The Norwegian Environmental Agency reported Equinor to the Signed a MoU to form a strategic Officially opened the Johan Sverdrup field, which has record-low police in three cases related partnership with Panasonic and operational CO₂ emissions (0.67 kg CO₂ per barrel produced). Daily to spills and emissions to the Hydro to explore possibilities for production capacity increased to half a million barrels of oil per day in environment at the Mongstad establishing a sustainable and phase 1. refinery. cost-competitive European battery business. Achieved safe start-up of the Sanctioned four oil and gas Experienced a fire at the Hammerfest LNG plant at Melkøya. No personnel Snorre Expansion Project, which projects, two in Norway and two injuries were reported, but extensive repair is needed, which requires the extends the lifetime of the Snorre A internationally. plant to remain closed for up to 12 months. platform in the North Sea. A fire was also reported in the Tjeldbergodden compressor building. Equinor Sustainability Report 2020 2 Message from the CEO Dear stakeholder. Equinor has set clear ambitions for the future. We aim to the reduced number of personnel injuries. However, we more rigorous training for our employees, suppliers and partners and by be a leader in the energy transition by building the energy still have challenges. During the second half of 2020, we further integrating human rights due diligence in our work processes. industry of tomorrow and becoming a net-zero company. experienced serious oil and gas leakages and fires at We are developing as a broad energy company founded some of our onshore plants. We take these incidents very We are preparing for a future that will be different. Where the need for on a strong commitment to sustainability and by delivering seriously and are investigating them and implementing energy will be as high as ever, but with far lower emissions. Equinor aims on our strategy – always safe, high value and low carbon. mitigating actions. They are stark reminders of the need to to stand out as one of the companies that shaped that future. Guided further improve safety, and the continuous and necessary by our purpose: To turn natural resources into energy for people and Society has to move faster towards net-zero emissions, work required to prevent major accidents. progress for society, we want to be a leader in the energy transition and we aim to be a committed partner on that journey. developing the energy industry of tomorrow. Early last year, we outlined our climate roadmap and set 2020 was an extraordinary year. It was a challenging new ambitions. We are on track to achieve carbon neutral and tough time for us all, for some more than others. The Anders Opedal global operations by 2030, and in line with the Paris Covid-19 pandemic overshadowed everything in our President and Chief Executive Officer Agreement we have worked our ambitions further. By societies and influenced much of our work. This is why 2050, Equinor aims to be a net-zero company – including we took, and continue to take, measures to reduce the emissions from the use of the energy we provide. spread of the virus to keep our people safe. Moreover, the pandemic had, and still has, a significant impact on our We will reduce emissions from our own oil and gas markets. The demand for oil and gas decreased and we production, accelerate growth within renewables and saw unprecedented market conditions and uncertainties in develop markets for hydrogen, carbon capture and the first half of 2020. storage. This is good for the climate and a solid business strategy that ensures competitiveness and drives change Despite the pandemic, we have managed to conduct towards a future that will have to be net zero. It sets a clear our business – at sea and on land. The organisation is strategic direction and demonstrates Equinor’s continued adapting to new routines both on our installations and commitment to long-term value creation in line with the while working from home. I am impressed by the way our Paris Agreement. Equinor wants to be a leading company employees, leaders and suppliers continue to manage the in the energy transition, and these ambitions set us at the current circumstances. forefront. Our actions will continue to be inspired and guided by the Ensuring safety and security of everyone working in and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We have for Equinor, is a prerequisite for everything we do. We also integrated human rights more concretely into the way have seen improvements in important areas, especially we work by strengthening our corporate policy, delivering Equinor Sustainability Report 2020 3 Strategy & Material topics and stakeholder dialogue governance Both the content and structure of this report reflects our most material sustainability impacts across the value chain, and the sustainability topics that were most significant to us and our stakeholders in 2020. When assessing materiality, we consider the global sustainability context, transparency and relevant reporting standards. We have evaluated our impacts across our own activities and business relationships. These include actual and potential, positive and negative impacts on people, including human rights, the environment and the economy. These are described on page 5 and illustrated on page 7. Relevant sustainability standards and reporting frameworks have informed our assessment, such as the GRI Standards (including the draft Oil and Gas Sector Standard), the Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and the UN Global Compact. The Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are key external frameworks which we respond to. We engage stakeholders in continuous dialogue throughout the year to help inform our content selection process. Stakeholders are consulted both directly and indirectly, and we strive to remove potential barriers (language, social and geographical) when interacting. The Chair of the Board of Directors, the CEO and other senior managers, amongst others, engage in stakeholder dialogue. Key stakeholder groups include employees, shareholders, governments, regulators, business partners and suppliers, customers, local communities, academia, non-governmental organisations and society at large. Regular dialogue, media analysis, investor meetings and other outreach to key stakeholders on sustainability topics, have helped capture the stakeholder views and concerns most relevant for this report. Throughout 2020, we have engaged in dialogue with the investor group Climate Action 100+ on Equinor’s climate ambitions and strategy. Our policy expectations and a joint statement with Climate Action 100+ can be found on our website. To give independent perspectives on our activities, we have invited some stakeholders to share their views on our activities as “External voices” which feature throughout this report. These individuals represent a variety of backgrounds, disciplines and geographical areas. The views expressed are those of the individual and do not represent views by Equinor. The contributors are not remunerated. This year, we present our material topics in a slightly more detailed way, however the most material topics remain the same. Some of the topics are overlapping, but the totality of our 18 material topics represent Equinor’s most important sustainability impacts and focus areas. Equinor Sustainability Report 2020 4 Our material topics and impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Selected Material topic Impact Related quantitative figure 2020 Impact on SDGs SDGs Health and safety, incl. emergency response Total recordable injury frequency (TRIF): 2,3 • Providing good work places with safety as our priority Percentage of security personnel who have received formal training in SDG 8 Security the organisations human rights policies: 85 • Potential safety incidents • Supporting initiatitves to promote transparency and anti-corruption,