The climate crisis affecting Chile and the world is one of the greatest challenges facing the country today. Although the country contributes with a minimum percentage to the emission of global Greenhouse Gases (GHG), it is very vulnerable to its impacts. Therefore, at the national level, moving towards climate change mitigation and adaptation is crucial, since its impacts are widespread and are intensifying rapidly.
To address this scenario, experts imperatively recommend a substantial and sustained reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other GHG emissions. In this line, in November 2021, within the framework of COP26, almost 200 countries, including Chile, adhered to the Glasgow Climate Pact, with the purpose of advancing towards the reduction of polluting gases by 45% by 2030, with respect to 2010 levels; and to achieve "net zero emissions" of CO2 by 2050. The document highlights the failures of previous commitments to curb global warming and takes up the objectives established in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
In order to achieve this goal, the Enel Group has brought forward its Net Zero target by 10 years, setting it for 2040, also considering an exit from coal-fired operations by 2027. In practice, by 2040 the Enel Group's energy matrix will have no gas or coal operations. These goals are part of the Group's commitment to the "Business Ambition for 1.5 ⁰C" campaign promoted by the United Nations and other institutions, of which it is part, and in line with the criteria and recommendations of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
In this scenario, Enel Chile, which assumes the same commitments of the Enel Group, will be the first generator in the country to have an energy mix without coal by 2022, seeking to achieve Net Zero by 2040. Continuous investment in renewable energy, systematically carried out since 2012, allows the Chilean company to be the first operator in this sector and, consequently, to set its own Net Zero target by limiting its direct emissions to 90 g CO2eq/kWh by 2024.