Meeting energy demand amidst an energy transition
The world is facing an urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition to a lower-carbon economy. At the same time, global energy demand is rising, and the continued war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East and lingering inflation have highlighted the importance of energy reliability, affordability, and access. Against this backdrop, Enbridge believes in taking a practical and balanced approach, with energy systems that include responsibly produced natural gas and oil, as well as renewable power and lower-carbon options.
The U.S. natural gas utilities acquisitions we announced in September 2023 are a transformative opportunity that not only establishes Enbridge as the largest (by volume) natural gas distribution company in North America but also supports our growth as a more diversified company. These utilities share our commitment to embedding sustainability in operations and advancing lower-carbon initiatives. The acquisitions also enable us to provide safe, reliable and affordable energy to an additional three million customers across the United States.
The first-choice energy delivery company
Every day, we strive to be the first-choice energy delivery company in North America and beyond—for customers, communities, investors, regulators, policymakers and employees.
We’re proud of our strong record of governance and longstanding sustainability leadership and we remain focused on achieving the ambitious environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals we set in 2020. In this, our 23rd Sustainability Report, we share that we surpassed both of our Board diversity goals and have made solid progress on our goals for employee representation of underrepresented ethnic and racial groups in our workforce. That said, we still have work to do—particularly with respect to the representation of women, U.S. veterans and persons with disabilities. We have experienced very little turnover in recent years, which has limited our opportunities to achieve gains in our diverse employee base. We continue to actively work to build a diverse talent pool and a more inclusive, dynamic and innovative team.
During 2023, we achieved our goal to reduce the emissions intensity of our operations from 2018 levels, and we’ve also reduced our absolute methane emissions by 40% during the same period. These results are encouraging and teams across Enbridge are focused on maintaining and improving upon our progress to date.
Safety continues to be a dedicated focus for all employees. In 2023, we maintained an industry-leading benchmark for integrity management, and we achieved record performance for occupational and process safety. Still, there is more work ahead of us.
Advancing Indigenous inclusion and opportunity
Indigenous reconciliation across our host communities, together with inclusion and awareness throughout our Company, continues to be foundational. We have made good progress on the commitments in our Indigenous Reconciliation Action Plan, meeting 10 of the 22 commitments outlined in 2022. This includes establishing our Indigenous Advisory Group, setting a $1-billion Indigenous spend target, and advancing Indigenous representation within our workforce.
Tomorrow is on
While the economic and environmental challenges before us are great, we are prepared. Enbridge is in a strong position to navigate the headwinds and realize the opportunities presented to us. Put simply, we believe the world will need all forms of energy to meet demand while reducing emissions. Our strategy to grow our businesses, increase access to global markets and invest in lower-carbon platforms takes the big picture into account—now and longer-term.