Finland’s Neste—which claims to be the world’s largest producer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)—is walking back its pledge to achieve carbon-neutral production by 2035.
Neste made the commitment in 2020 when it signed The Climate Pledge—a coalition of 625 signatories that aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, a decade ahead of the target set by the United Nations’ Paris Agreement. In December, though, the company said its “very ambitious” target “would have required significant investments that are currently not realistic.”
Neste replaced its 2035 carbon-neutral pledge with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its operations by 80 percent by 2040. It also extended its target to reduce operational emissions by 50 percent, from 2030 to 2035. Per CEO Heikki Malinen, the company has slashed its own GHG emissions by 24 percent since 2019.
Neste earlier in 2025 reported delays in the transformation of its Porvoo, Finland, refinery into a SAF production hub, which it cited as a factor in the revised targets.
“Neste’s current financial position does not allow further major capital expenditure beyond the ongoing 2.5 billion euros investment in expansion of our renewables refinery in Rotterdam [Netherlands],” Malinen said. “As investment projects in our industry take years to complete, the timelines of our climate targets have to be delayed under the current circumstances.”
Neste said Porvoo’s transition from refining crude oil to processing renewable raw materials for SAF production “will be determined in line with the actual fuel market demand, legislation development and technological development.”
Ripple Effect
Though its operations are based in Finland, Neste’s revised targets have implications for the global aviation industry.
The U.S. government envisions SAF as a key tool to reduce aviation emissions. Established by a 2021 memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Energy, Transportation, and Agriculture Departments, the SAF Grand Challenge aims to ramp up domestic SAF production to 3 billion gallons per year by 2030—and 35 billion gallons per year by 2050. The effort also involves the private sector, including aerospace companies, universities, and nongovernmental organizations.
Neste is indirectly supplying about 4 million gallons of SAF to Boeing via the latter’s agreements with AvFuel and Epic Fuels. Since 2022, it has collaborated with Airbus on ways to accelerate SAF production.
Neste also has partnerships with United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and other major airlines to supply SAF to airports. The company’s scaleback in carbon-neutral production could impact each of these carriers’ individual sustainability targets.
