Türkiye Petrol Rafinerileri : Tüpraş releases 2021 Sustainability Report

09 June 2022

Tüpraş, which announced its 2050 Carbon Neutrality target and Strategic Transformation plan at the end of last year, released its "Sustainability Report for 2021", in which it has shared its activities guided with the company's motto of "Energy to the Future". İbrahim Yelmenoğlu, General Manager of Tüpraş, said, "Our Strategic Transformation Plan supports our sustainability approach. We are working hard to improve environmental and social impact of our chain of value with the responsibility we have assumed for future generations by saying 'Energy to the Future'. While the portion of our sustainability investments was 55 percent in 2021, we have also improved our environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) performance by 22 percent in average. We continue with our efforts to enhance our performance in this area and aim to achieve 20 percent improvement in average in assessment indices for 2022."

Tüpraş Sustainability Report 2021 is providing a roadmap for the company's pioneering activities in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the company's investments for transition to low carbon economy, in line with its Strategic Transformation Journey. The report includes Scope 1 and 2 emissions arising from production processes for the first time as well as several new data, such as TCFD risk and opportunity assessments.

Tüpraş revised its materiality assessment engaging both internal and external stakeholders and included into the sustainability roadmap, which integrated in the Company's Strategic Transformation Plan. Company's 2021 Sustainability Report is prepared in accordance with Global Reporting Standards.

"Our Strategic Transformation Plan supports our sustainability approach"

Stating that 2021 was a milestone for Tüpraş, İbrahim Yelmenoğlu, General Manager of Tüpraş, said, "Our Strategic Transformation Plan supports our sustainability approach. We are working to improve environmental and social impact of our chain of value with the responsibility we have assumed for future generations by saying 'Energy to the Future'. While transforming for a sustainable world, we are also aiming to increase competitiveness and profitability of our current assets and we prioritize investing in new areas of business that will strengthen our sustainability approach. Our goal is to be a key player utilizing alternative energy production methods while also reducing carbon emission of refinery operations in the upcoming period."

Highlighting that the Strategic Transformation Plan was prepared with the awareness of the leading role of Tüpraş in contributing Turkey's net zero carbon emission target by 2053, Yelmenoğlu continued, "As the first phase of our Strategic Transformation Plan, we undertake to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions originating from our production processes by 27 percent in 2030 and by 35 percent in 2035, compared to 2017. We also aim to offer a more versatile product portfolio and be carbon free in Scope 1 and 2 emissions and maintain our leading industrial corporation position in Turkey as of 2050.
We are acting with the approach to decarbonize not only Tüpraş, but also our subsidiaries and our entire value chain. We are closely monitoring national and international policies and practices while managing climate change risks in our business processes. We have recently joined the global companies supporting Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)."

"The share of our sustainability investments has reached to 55 percent and we have improved our ESG performance by 22 percent"

Stating that they have used the resources efficiently in all their processes and made a contribution to cyclical economy, Yelmenoğlu said that the share of sustainability investments in total amount of investments reached 55 percent in 2021 and they invested 150 million TRY more in environment compared to 2020, with total investments amounting to 388 million TRY. He also added: "We have improved our scores by 22 percent in average in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) assessment indices. We continue with our efforts to improve our performance in this area in line with our new roadmap, and aim to achieve 20 percent improvement in average in assessment indices for 2022."

"We have focused on inclusiveness while transforming for the energy of future."

Yelmenoğlu said that they consider their employees as their most valuable asset and act with a human oriented approach while transforming for the energy of future and continued: "An equal, inclusive, fair, respectful and safe work environment is at the center of all our processes. We raise a workforce that has the competence and skills compatible with the future of work. As a signatory of United Nations Women's Empowerment Principles (UN WEPs), we act with the objective to be an inclusive workplace and support equal representation of women on site. Tüpraş was also included in Bloomberg's 2022 Global Equality Index (GEI), thanks to its equality, diversity and inclusion efforts in the energy industry".