Investor signatories of the Net Zero Engagement Initiative (NZEI) have been working with Veolia Environment S.A to strengthen its climate action plan, which was later approved in July 2024 by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and rated “Advanced” by Moody’s.
The engagement group of seven investors worked closely with Veolia in support of a shared goal: a climate action plan aligned to the growth objectives of Veolia’s “Green Up” strategic program, with the potential of contributing to global efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions while also improving risk adjusted returns for investors. The group was led by Francois Humbert, Engagement Lead Manager at Generali Asset Management, and included ERAFP, Allianz Global Investors, EOS at Federated Hermes Limited, Phoenix Group, and the Pension Protection Fund.
The scale of NZEI, which has grown from 93 to 115 signatories since its launch in 2023, further highlighted the importance of climate risks and opportunities to investors.
NZEI signatories met with senior leaders at Veolia in a series of meetings and workshops, sharing resources to outline investor expectations of a company transition plan, including:
- A pedagogical explanation and breakdown for each business
- Emissions trajectory and contributing levers
- Disclosures on coal in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and China
- Related climate governance
This interaction added value for the company, which had already been formulating the plan before it received a letter from NZEI signatories in February 2023.
The plan, published in February 2024, includes targets for a 50% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2032 and a 30% reduction in scope 3 emissions by the same year, compared to 2021 levels, signalling an important step towards Veolia’s 2050 net zero commitment.The climate action plan also includes details on the organisation’s governance practices, risk management policy, and performance indicators, meeting requirements from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Veolia invested €650 million in its climate strategy between 2018 and 2024 and has pledged a further €950 million by 2030.
Sophie Duval-Huwart, Veolia Head of Strategy, and Guillaume Darmouni, Veolia previous Head of Climate, led the engagement from the company side.Starting from March 2025, following new EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requirements, Veolia will report operational emissions which are not under its financial control under scope 3 (initially scope 1&2), in line with its financial reporting and as approved by auditors. Veolia has therefore updated its climate plan accordingly on 31 March 2025. Veolia’s targets remained unchanged. Veolia has resubmitted its targets to SBTi for a formal re-approval.
Together, Veolia and NZEI signatories agree to continue the dialogue and encourage progress on the role of avoided emissions, or scope 4; the European coal exit plan and decarbonisation of coal assets in China; improvements in methane capture; and how different parts of the transition are reflected in Veolia’s investments.
Francois Humbert, Engagement Lead Manager at Generali Insurance Asset Management, as lead of the engagement group said: We would like to congratulate Veolia for the very significant work performed to publish the Veolia Climate Report, issued in February 2024 and the subsequent SBTi approval in July 2024 along with the “Advanced / NZ-2” transition plan rating from Moody’s. We believe that this is one of the most comprehensive climate reports we have seen in recent years, including a pedagogical explanation and breakdown for each business, emissions trajectory and contributing levers, disclosures on coal in CEE/China and related climate governance. Following the CSRD implementation, we take note of the scope changes, we welcome the clarification which was expected, and we look forward to the SBTi re-validation. We will continue to work with the company on avoided emissions, coal in China, methane, the various business models of the transition, and related improvements in reporting.
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