REN signs commitment to limit global warming to 1.5 ºC

REN is one of the Portuguese signatories of the 'Business Ambition for 1.5 ºC' commitment letter, an initiative of the United Nations that challenges companies worldwide to create measures to combat climate change. 

Gonçalo Morais Soares, REN´s CFO, represented the company at the Protocol Ceremony for the Signing of the Commitment Letters of Portuguese companies, which took place this afternoon, 6 November, in the Grand Auditorium of Culturgest - CGD Foundation, as part of the international conference, co-sponsored by the United Nations Global Compact and by the networks of the Global Compact of Portugal and Spain, on the topic of 'Making Global Goals Local Business Iberia'. 

The solemn moment of the Commitment Letter signing was replicated throughout the world with protocol ceremonies taking place simultaneously in several countries. 

The challenge put forth by the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, follows the 'Global Warming of 1.5 ºC', a report presented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that addresses the negative impacts and risks arising from rising temperatures and warns of the urgency of creating measures to prevent this warming. 

The document, which was already signed by several leaders and prominent companies from around the world at a ceremony in New York last September, integrated in the Climate Week, and which was formalised today in Portugal by 20 companies, encourages organisations to truly commit to the preservation of the planet, with the definition of specific goals that must be achieved in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, crucial to curbing global warming. More specifically, the reduction of emissions to limit the increase of the planet's temperature to 1.5 °C.  

A founding member of the Portuguese Network of the United Nations Global Compact, whose principles it follows since 2005, REN has been implementing an action plan throughout the years to reduce its direct emissions, namely regarding emissions of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), a gas used as an electrical (dielectric) insulator in multiple high and very-high-voltage devices. In this context, it participates in international working groups where these issues are discussed, and undertakes different measures to minimise the environmental impact associated with greenhouse gas emissions. 

Through this call to action, REN thus assumes, on a global scale, the commitment to align its decarbonisation plans with the ambition of limiting or mitigating global warming, with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, in all relevant areas, in order to avoid global warming above 1.5 ºC. 

All actions defined under this commitment, and their results, will then be validated by an independent organisation, the Science-Based Targets initiative, and seek to contribute to control global temperature.