Climate and environment
In times of considerable socio-economic uncertainty, climate change and the risk of disruption to traditional industries and jobs, we are determined to ensure continuous work to manage environmental impacts. We are aware that poor environmental management can contribute to operational risk, damage the company’s reputation, and impact finances and, that minimizing our environmental footprint is crucial to maintain our license to operate. In accordance with the requirements of our customers, suppliers, employees, business partners and other stakeholders, we strive to continuously improve business processes, as well as the quality of products and services thus shifting towards a low-carbon circular economy.
We all want to live in a better, safer, and cleaner world, and for that we need to shift to a low-carbon, circular economic model. Our HSE Management System is the framework that helps put our Group HSE Policy into action by establishing common expectations for addressing environmental risks.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate change is a widely accepted challenge that requires an urgent response. European commission presented the „Fit for 55“ package, containing a set of legislative proposals to make the EU’s climate, energy and taxation policies, land use and transport fit for reaching the European Green Deal’s objective of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. To achieve this goal, the transformation of the industry is inevitable and should not be considered a threat, but an opportunity. INA should and can be a part of the solution when it comes to the green transition and does not only focus on its traditional activities.
European Union Emissions Trading System, EU ETS, is one of the fundamental mechanisms of the European Union in the fight against climate change. Inside the System, a part of the emission allowances (one allowance = 1 tonne of CO2) is allocated to installations for free and they are used to “cover” the emissions from the previous year. If the installation has a shortage of allowances in respect to verified emissions, the rest must be bought on the market through auctioning. To achieve the EU’s overall greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2030, the organization units covered by the EU ETS must reduce their emissions. All four INA’s ETS installations conducted preparation for the 4th EU ETS Trading Phase, which is valid for the period 2021 until 2030.
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION
Systematic environmental management is an integral part of INA’s business policy, and all INA’s segments, which have actual or potential significant impact on the environment, have certified environmental management systems in accordance with ISO 14001 standard.
WASTE MANAGEMENT
During production and processing of oil and gas, different types of waste are generated, so INA published INA Group 2018-2021 Key Waste Management Objectives that are also the main guideline in creating activities related to waste management.
INA complies with the highest standards and best industry practices in the field of environmental protection and is directed towards further development of the waste management system. Find out more.
AIR EMISSIONS
Air emissions from oil and gas industry operations may contribute to local impacts that can affect human health and environment. We track and monitor air emissions at our plants and apply best available techniques for emission reduction. Our efforts focus on the largest emitting facilities and on the opportunities that are technically and economically feasible.
The main sources of air emissions from our operations are the combustion of fossil fuels and process emissions. The most significant pollutants from refineries are SO2, NOx and VOCs, so we focus on their reduction through the implementation of best available techniques for refining of mineral oil and gas. Within the framework of the existing air quality monitoring system, we monitor the air quality at the sources of pollution and the area closest to the settlements.
WATER PROTECTION
To achieve specific steps toward sustainable business while keeping in mind the importance of water as a resource for oil and gas industry, water management is one of the strategic goals in the HSE Key Objectives & Programs for 2021 – 2025. To reduce the negative environmental impact on the surface and subsurface water bodies we are developing a detailed water management plan with water impact assessment (ground water, surface water, quality, and quantity) to identify the improvement possibilities and water intake reduction possibilities. The water we use comes from various sources: it may be surface or groundwater, municipal water supply and sea water.
BIODIVERSITY
Preserving biodiversity is one of our core values. For every new procedure that requires an environmental impact assessment, an Environmental impact study is made, which describes all aspects of the environment and possible impacts on the environment as well as on the bioecological characteristics and all environmental protection measures are prescribed. We created a database of all sites to identify those that are in sensitive areas of biodiversity (geographically and legally defined area which is protected to preserve the biological and landscape diversity, including NATURA 2000), culturally sensitive area (place which is protected for their cultural or recreational value) and water-sensitive area (the area from the list of the Ramsar Convention and dry areas).