Eni's CEO Claudio Descalzi met with the President of Benin, Patrice Talon, to discuss possible collaborations in the energy transition and circular economy.
In particular, Descalzi and President Talon discussed projects for the agro-industrial chain, focused on the enhancement of agricultural waste and the production of oilseeds not in contrast with the food chain, for use in bio-refining, in which Benin could play an important role as a country with a strong agricultural vocation.
Eni's Chief Executive Officer, Claudio Descalzi, commented: "We presented to President Talon our model for the development of the agricultural by-products chain, which we believe could prove to be important and advantageous for local communities and for the country's energy industry in the long term, as well as supporting our path of transforming traditional fuels into biofuels ”.
Benin is a leader in West Africa for the production of cotton, whose by-products can be exploited as feedstock for bio-refineries, promoting a real and concrete example of circular economy. The initiative would make it possible to create a strong synergy along the entire value chain with important economic and employment effects for both farmers and cotton mills.
Other opportunities discussed during the meeting concern the development of the cultivation of castor, a plant resistant to drought, which would make it possible to recover degraded areas from an agricultural point of view, creating at the same time further new employment.
Eni has for some time started a new phase of evolution of its business model strongly oriented towards the creation of value for all stakeholders in the long term, combining economic, financial and environmental sustainability. The company's strategy aims to achieve by 2050 the target of zeroing the net emissions Scope 1, 2 and 3 (Net GHG Lifecycle Emissions), and the cancellation of the relative emission intensity (Net Carbon Intensity), referring to the entire cycle of life of energy products sold, further strengthening the intermediate decarbonisation objectives.