I am pleased to present SaskEnergy's 2021-22 Sustainability Report, which highlights our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices and performance while providing an outlook on the key indicators we have set for ourselves.
While ESG principles have always been reflected in our operations, we have reaffirmed our commitment to embed sustainability into all of our decision making. The decisions we make, demonstrated by the initiatives and actions highlighted in this report, are aligned across three pillars — Environment, Prosperity and People. Within each of these pillars, SaskEnergy has established goals and priorities that drive what we value as an organization and contribute to a sustainable and greener future for our company, our customers and our province.
When we released our first sustainability report last year, we shared SaskEnergy's commitment to reduce our emissions from operations by 35 per cent by 2030. However, we did not have all the answers on how we would get there. This year, significant progress was made as we developed a roadmap to achieve this goal.
We established three focus areas to meet this commitment — vent gas reductions, renewable electricity and optimizing our operational practices and infrastructure. A number of initiatives are already underway to achieve emissions reductions under these focus areas, with many more projects scheduled throughout the next eight years.
Just this year, we achieved emissions reductions of 22,000 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), or seven per cent from 2020-21 — an encouraging step toward our 2030 goal. At the same time, SaskEnergy is committed to assisting our customers in lowering their energy use and reducing emissions. We have made strides to increase the reach of our customer energy efficiency programs, providing $1.2 million in additional funding in 2021-22, for a total of more than $3 million. In 2022-23 we will increase this funding again, providing $5.1 million to help customers be more energy efficient, with the goal of reducing end-use emissions by 25,000 tonnes CO2e.
SaskEnergy will continue to meet the energy needs of Saskatchewan as we make progress on achieving our emissions reduction targets. In alignment with our vision of environmental sustainability and economic prosperity for future generations, we will also maintain our focus on operational efficiencies so we can continue to provide our customers with competitive rates amid increasing cost pressures.
Our relationships with our customers, stakeholders and Indigenous communities are of the utmost importance and an integral part of our future. Through our community investment and engagement efforts, and our focus on local procurement, SaskEnergy will continue to support the provincial economy, strengthen our communities and invest in the rural, urban and Indigenous communities in which we work and live.
Of course, the success of our business, and our progress toward a lower carbon future, is not possible without our team of more than 1,200 employees. This is one of the reasons why safety is at the centre of everything we do at SaskEnergy — we want every member of our workforce to get home safely at the end of each day. We also want to ensure that our employees can be successful, which is why we invest in developing their skills for today, and for the future energy and environmental needs of Saskatchewan. At the same time, we foster a welcoming work environment that encourages diversity, equity and inclusion so our staff can continue to share their ideas and perspectives and build their careers with our company.
For our success to date, and as we continue along our sustainability journey, I want to thank our employees for their dedication to SaskEnergy, and to the people of Saskatchewan.
Mark Guillet, K.C.
SaskEnergy Acting President and CEO