Earlier in October, Liberty published our target of net-zero by 2050 for all scope 1 and 2 emissions across our business operations. We are proud of the time, effort, and dedication our teams have put in to ensure that this target is well-informed, credible, and feasible for the diverse set of mission critical services (electricity, gas, and water) that we provide across our various geographic locations. Now, we’ve shared what this target entails for our business, but it’s also important to explore why net-zero is important, how we came about establishing it, and where this target will take us next. Let’s explore a little bit of the story behind this new target.
First, the “why”. The simple answer is that we believe it’s the right thing to do. We know intuitively that net-zero targets are an important and positive step in restoring and protecting our environment. The scientific evidence is abundant and overwhelmingly clear: we are in a climate crisis and all of us—businesses and individuals—need to play our part in navigating out of this crisis and onto a more sustainable path. As the IPCC puts it: “Climate-related risks to health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, human security and economic growth are projected to increase with global warming of 1.5ºC and increase further with 2ºC”. In other words: the climate crisis will affect us all; it is systemic. And when you pause to consider recent extreme weather events, it is unfortunately easy to see just how affected we are, no matter which part of this planet we call home.
But the story of net-zero goes beyond the environment, it also involves the social and governance pillars of ESG. It is widely viewed that society is at the dawn of the next great historical transition: the “decarbonization phase”. Many people believe this transition also brings incredible potential and opportunity through improved technology, innovation and job creation as we pivot society into a new sustainable reality, a reality that can bring positive impacts to our social wellbeing.
When we look at the net-zero journey at Liberty, we view it not only as an opportunity to do our part in the decarbonization transition towards an improved environment, but also to further the benefits to many of our key stakeholders: our employees, the communities we serve, our valued customers and our investors.
Next, the “how”. One could say that this net-zero target has been decades in the making, part of our corporate DNA. If you’re familiar with our story, you know what sustainability has been at the heart of our business since our establishment over 30 years ago. Liberty has never added to the global stock of emissions by developing new thermal and coal-based facilities, and we have been making meaningful contributions to developing and growing renewable energy through hydro, wind, and solar facilities. Sustaining energy and water for life is our purpose, and through that purpose we have been propelling sustainable solutions across our enterprise for many years. So, in many ways, the net-zero goal has been long time coming.
It’s important to recognize that targets of this nature are quite complex, and when done right, there are no shortcuts: we spoke with leaders in key representative areas of our organization, including operations, engineering, finance, legal, risk, development, and gathered the data needed to identify key constraints to achieving potential targets across all of our business lines: water and wastewater, power generation and distribution, gas distribution, and across our jurisdictions (US, Canada, Bermuda, Chile). Through these countless discussions, brainstorming sessions, and careful consideration of the challenges and opportunities, the picture became clearer for us and we became confident that setting this long-term net-zero target was an achievable goal for our organization.
As we look at “where” we’re headed next, it is worth highlighting that we view the net-zero journey as being full of opportunities that build on our strengths. One of our core strengths, for example, stems from the decades of experience we have growing the renewable energy sector: we now have over 1000 wind turbines and over 1 million solar panels in operation, producing clean energy on a daily basis -and our ambitions on renewable energy continue to grow as we not only continue to work to green our own fleet, but also the operations of our partners.
Our teams are also exploring various net-zero emissions reduction opportunities and technology innovations like renewable natural gas (RNG) and green hydrogen and intend to invest in projects to move our knowledge and experience further in these technologies. We are seeking out opportunities across our fleet to decarbonize and to enhance how we operate sustainably.
We recognize that we have a lot of work ahead of us, and we expect to update our interim goals as we continue on our net-zero journey. So, if you are taking a hard look at your career and wondering how you could make a positive impact that you can see, measure, and even visit one day – consider joining our team at Liberty. Sustainability is deeply intertwined with our business’ future outlook: it is a priority for this company and serves as one of the 3 strategic pillars that guide us forward. If you would like to learn more about our history, journey, and sustainability initiatives, please review our net-zero fact sheet and 2021 ESG report that are available on our website, and feel free to reach out to our team.
We look forward to engaging with all of our stakeholders, and we invite you to join us in making a positive difference and being part of the solution.
Ariel Bautista
Director, Sustainability