Climate Strategy

OMV clearly recognizes that climate change is one of the most important global challenges today and fully supports the goals set forth by the Paris Climate Change Agreement. OMV takes climate action in its operations, product and service portfolio, innovations and R&D activities, working environment, and social investments.

OMV is fully committed to climate change mitigation and responsible resource management, and has consequently set targets to manage and reduce the carbon footprint of our operations and product portfolio. In 2020, we set new carbon targets, pledging for the first time to become carbon-neutral in our operations by 2050.

Our ambition is to reach net-zero GHG emissions in our operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 2050 or sooner. The net-zero operations will be achieved through energy efficiency measures, new technologies such as carbon capture, carbon storage/utilization, and hydrogen, as well as renewable electricity (like our photovoltaic plant in Austria) and portfolio optimization measures. We have endorsed the international World Bank initiative “Zero routine flaring by 2030” to end the routine flaring and venting of associated gas during oil production by 2030.

We are aware that the vast majority of our emissions come from the use of our products. Therefore, we aim for at least 60% of our product portfolio to be composed of low-/zero-carbon products (including gas) by 2025. OMV will work together with stakeholders to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the product portfolio in the long term. OMV will increase the share of gas in its portfolio to achieve an immediate CO₂ reduction. We see oil as a valuable raw material which should not be burned. OMV’s equity oil will be used for petrochemical and chemical production (non-energy products) and in circular plastics economy solutions. Furthermore, OMV will increase the share of alternative feedstocks (such as plastic waste, biofuel/waste, e-fuel/CO₂, biogas, synthetic gas) for its products and will focus on hydrogen technologies to identify large-scale commercial applications for the future. Beside these measures, more research and development in some technologies is still needed to bring them to commercial scale (e.g., CCU). With the Borealis transaction in 2020, OMV is shifting its product portfolio toward a larger share of non-energy products and repositioning itself for a low-carbon future.

In order to further develop our low-carbon business solutions and technologies, we continued in 2020 to build the New Energy Solutions department, which was launched in 2019. This unit develops small- and large-scale low-carbon technologies for energy supply, for mobility, and for industry. New Energy Solutions connects to OMV’s core competencies and maintains a direct link to the existing business. First studies and projects were initiated in the course of 2020, e.g., in the areas of hydrogen, carbon capture and utilization (CCU), alternative usage of subsurface reservoirs, and renewable energy. Central portfolio management for all New Energy Solutions projects within the OMV Group has been set up and integrated with Group-wide planning, budgeting, and strategy development activities.

In line with the Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), we disclose, where possible, climate-change-related considerations in the operational elements of governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets. The TCFD Index, published as an annex to this Report, outlines disclosures throughout this Report that illustrate our reporting in accordance with TCFD Recommendations. OMV is a supporter of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

Climate protection will be a key aspect of the OMV strategy update in 2021, as we continue to set new and more ambitious goals for addressing climate change.