SAF Producer Neste Walks Back 2035 Zero-Emission Pledge

Company has agreements to supply sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for Boeing, Airbus, and several major U.S. airlines.

Jack Daleo

Monday, December 29, 2025 at 03:30 PM ET

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Jack Daleo

Neste and United Airlines are partnering to supply SAF to major airports around the U.S. [Credit: United Airlines]

Key Takeaways:

Neste, the world's largest sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) producer, has retracted its 2035 carbon-neutral production pledge, citing that the required significant investments are currently unrealistic due to financial constraints.
The company replaced its ambitious target with a revised goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by 80 percent by 2040 and extended its 50 percent reduction target from 2030 to 2035.
This decision, influenced by ongoing major capital expenditures and delays in its Porvoo refinery transformation, has implications for the global aviation industry and its partners, including major airlines and U.S. decarbonization goals.

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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.”