Caring for land and biodiversity

We work under a broad range of natural and socioeconomic settings – and every location is unique.

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Image United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to this content.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to this content.

Our operations are in areas that include:

  • Forests
  • Grasslands
  • Marshes
  • Deserts
  • Aquatic and marine environments

These ecosystems, functioning in a healthy relationship, provide benefits (i.e., natural services) like pollination of crops, food, clean air, and physical and spiritual well-being. The scale of our operations means that we have to consider ecosystems and work to reduce potential impacts to them and the value they provide. Knowing how our activities interact with ecosystems is key to supporting nature and communities.

Care is a core value. We aim to contribute to the well-being of the communities and environment where we operate. That’s what Care means for us. The way we manage land and habitats, and the biodiversity within them, is critically important to this objective. 

Our Project Environmental Standards for Land Use and Marine Sound inform how we choose projects and design our facilities. They enable us to:

  • Avoid or reduce environmental and socioeconomic impacts related to short-and long-term land use, including lands in critical habitats or with high ecosystem value.
  • Identify, assess, and manage risks linked with our work that may produce marine sound, and reliably and effectively implement our mitigation efforts.

Our standards provide guidance for avoiding land use in areas of high “ecosystem services” value or critical habitats.1 Our guidance includes more than a dozen categories for consideration, including statutory protections, impacts from other industrial activities, and importance to Indigenous peoples. In these areas, we follow the Cross Sector Biodiversity Initiative’s mitigation hierarchy, a best practice to help avoid, reduce, restore, and offset impacts to biodiversity. As part of this decision-making process, we look for ways to protect, conserve, or restore ecosystems from the start of a project through the end of an asset’s life, including remediation and restoration.

For major projects, we use our Environmental, Social, and Health Impact Assessment process to evaluate environmental, social, and health risks. We also use an environmental aspects assessment process to identify, assess, and establish solutions (e.g., potential mitigation measures) at every stage of a project.

Systems like these help us put Care into practice in this focus area. Through training, we bring this core value to life with our employees. As part of our sustainability strategy, land and habitat management is emphasized in online training, in-person meetings, and interactive virtual sessions. For example, in 2022, we launched sustainability online training courses available to all employees, including a module to reinforce the importance of ExxonMobil’s sustainability focus areas like this one. Through December 2024, more than 4,000 employees have completed this module. Some employees receive more training with a deep focus on environmental management, based on their roles. 

Our approach

We employ a comprehensive process to understand the connection between our business and the communities and environments where we operate.

  • Using our Operational Integrity Management System and Environmental Aspects Guide, we work to understand and measure the benefits gained from the biodiversity of an environment.
  • Our environmental management system helps us identify, mitigate, and monitor potential impacts to any given environment.
  • Engagement with academia, industry, community leaders, and others helps us identify relevant biodiversity and ecosystem services.

With these inputs, we apply an approach based on an evaluation of the ecosystems and how they function in the broader environment. Protect Tomorrow. Today. is our guiding principle. Our work is also informed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

What are ecosystem services?

Ecosystems are how nature works. From water and air … to plants and animals … to food and raw materials, nature is interconnected and essential for human life.

The concept of ecosystem services links the socioeconomic and environmental settings in each area where we operate. Ecosystem services are the way that nature contributes, both directly or indirectly, to human health and prosperity. These can be complex – like the role of insects in pollinating crops and natural plants. Or they can be as simple as the beauty of natural landscapes that improve spiritual and mental well-being.

We look to assess the significance of our activities and the potential impact those activities might have on ecosystem services – that is, we seek to understand how the ecosystems benefit people and the environment. By identifying the biodiversity and relevant ecosystem services around our sites, our project designs and operational practices can both reduce potential impacts and find opportunities for added benefits.

 

Operations near protected areas

We check our sites against the World Database of Protected Areas and adjust our business plans as needed to enhance emergency response plans and protective measures. In 2024, 32% of major operating site2 were within 5 km of designated protected areas on land and 10 km of designated marine protected areas.

The table2 below lists our major operating sites within 5 km of: 

  • International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Category I and II protected areas (strict nature reserves, wilderness areas, and national parks).
  • Ramsar sites (wetlands of international importance).
  • UNESCO World Heritage Sites (natural and cultural).
Major operating site
Protected area name
Designation / type
Location
Facility type
Country

Long Island Point

Mornington Peninsula and Western Port Biosphere Reserve

UNESCO – Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), Ramsar Site

Within 1 km

Fractionation plant and storage

Australia

Fawley

Solent and Southampton Water

Ramsar Site

Within 1 km

Petroleum refinery and chemical plant

United Kingdom

Point Jerome Gravenchon

Marais Vernier et Vallée de la Risle maritime

Ramsar Site

Within 1 km

Petroleum refinery and lube oil blending plant

France

Notre Dame Gravenchon

Marais Vernier et Vallée de la Risle maritime

Ramsar Site

Within 5 km

Chemical plant

France

Fife Ethylene Plant

Firth of Forth

Ramsar Site

Within 5 km

Chemical plant

United Kingdom

Barenburg Operations

Diepholzer Moorniederung

Ramsar Site

Within 5 km

Oil and gas processing

Germany

Vallejo

El Tepeyac

IUCN Cat II

Within 5 km

Lube oil blending plant

Mexico

Site-specific strategies

Our work is catered to the needs of each community and ecosystem. We seek opportunities for:

  • Research to increase shared knowledge about ecosystems and how they work.
  • Engagement with local communities, governments, and academia to connect our work with regional strategies.
  • Remediation and conservation to bring new life to areas where we operate.

ExxonMobil Research Qatar in Doha works with QatarEnergy LNG, Qatar University, and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to define and deploy nature-based solutions (NbS) to help protect, manage, and restore ecosystems. Mangrove habitats, for example, can provide multiple NbS “co-benefits” such as supporting biodiversity, stabilizing shorelines, and sequestering carbon. Constructed wetlands are another avenue of research, as they can be used for wastewater treatment and reuse. 

In Centreville, Mississippi, a cross-functional team is developing and implementing an ambitious beneficial use remediation project on a 240-acre site. Efforts there include:

  • Pursuing WHC Certification®, powered by Tandem Global, a voluntary sustainability standard designed for broad-based biodiversity enhancement and conservation education activities on corporate landholdings.
  • Developing a STEM education program in conjunction with the University of Southern Mississippi for teachers and classrooms across the state and beyond. 
  • Land management programs involving the introduction of natural grasses and reforestation, with support from the Mississippi Forestry Commission and Mississippi State University.
  • Biodiversity monitoring with the introduction of leading-edge eDNA technologies to perform ecological surveys.

In Louisiana, the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Arboretum and Learning Center achieved WHC Certification®. Designated as Certified Silver, the site comprises more than 700 acres of preserves. Our efforts there are focused on local birds, pollinator protection, and urban forests. Collaborators have ranged from international groups, like the Audubon Society, to a local horticulturalist known as “The Garden Lady.” In 2023, our work in the region earned the Clean Biz Award from Keep Louisiana Beautiful.

Conservation milestones in Papua New Guinea

Image

In 2023, 109 clans in the Lower Kikori came together for the signing of 11 conservation deeds to preserve more than 20,000 hectares of land in the PNG’s Gulf Province – a record-breaking achievement for the region. These deeds serve as a legal mechanism to create formal protected areas in the Kikori Delta area. Our affiliate supported this effort for more than a decade through collaboration, engagement, and facilitation.

Our affiliate’s operations in the country encompass areas of high biodiversity significance and conservation value. In fact, the project’s upstream area3 is deemed to be critical habitat. 

The overall objective of the biodiversity strategy is to retain the biodiversity value of the upstream area for the long-term by:

  • Maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem in the project’s upstream area.
  • Conserving priority ecosystems such as the Hides Ridge and Lake Kutubu areas.
  • Protecting focal habitats and significant ecological features such as caves and swamp forests.
  • Identifying and offsetting significant residual impacts such as land cover changes from the installation of pipelines and roads.

Working together to support biodiversity

We work with local education and research institutions, and we participate in community programs to:

  • Promote conservation of native species.
  • Support field surveys and collection of data.
  • Increase awareness and engagement.
  • Improve biodiversity management.

In 2023 and in 2024, we took part in Ipieca’s Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES) Peer-to-Peer Workshop, an industry-wide forum to share knowledge and build capabilities among member companies. More than 100 environmental and biodiversity practitioners from around the world participated in these workshops, contributing good practices, tools, and concepts to avoid, manage, and mitigate impacts on biodiversity.

In Papua New Guinea, our affiliate works with the New Guinea Binatang Research Centre to enhance conservation capacity for practitioners with certificate training through to post-grad Ph.D. programs. For example, five people representing the 109 clans who signed the conservation deeds received ranger training in 2022. 

We also support NatureServe in its mission to leverage the power of science, data, and technology to guide biodiversity conservation and stewardship. In 2023 and in 2024, the grants were focused on research and development related to the scalability of biodiversity indicators and the technology to make data more easily usable by practitioners.

spotlight

30+ years of habitat conservation with the Wildlife Habitat Council

We are a founding member of the Wildlife Habitat Council, which combined with the World Environmental Center to form Tandem Global in 2024. For more than three decades, we have worked with the council to promote sustainability, wildlife preservation, biodiversity, and conservation education at our sites. These projects vary from large-scale habitat restoration to community nature outings.

30+ years of habitat conservation with the Wildlife Habitat Council

The WHC Certification® is a voluntary sustainability standard designed for:

  • Broad-based biodiversity enhancement.
  • Conservation education activities.
  • Corporate landholdings.
WHC Certification

“I’m proud to be part of a company that works hard to understand the environments where we operate, including biodiversity and the benefits that ecosystems provide. Our people care for the land and habitats around our sites, and you can see that in their actions.”

Headshot of Ram Narayan
Ram Narayan
Chair: Ipieca Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Working Group
Member: Wildlife Habitat Council Executive Advisory Committee
Ram, our Principal of Land and Biodiversity (Onshore), leads the integration of biodiversity considerations into our environmental risk management for projects and sites.

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    FOOTNOTES:

    1. Critical habitats, as described by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standard 6 (PS6) on Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources (IFC, 2012a), are areas with high biodiversity value, including (i) habitat of significant importance to Critically Endangered and/or Endangered species; (ii) habitat of significant importance to endemic and/or restricted-range species; (iii) habitat supporting globally significant concentrations of migratory species and/or congregatory species; (iv) highly threatened and/or unique ecosystems; and/or (v) areas associated with key evolutionary processes.
    2. Major operating sites are defined as “operated assets in operational or development phase to include onshore and offshore, oil and gas production facilities, refineries and manufacturing sites, upstream central facilities, and gas plants.” (Sustainability Reporting Guidance for the Oil and Gas Industry (4th edition, 2020, revised February 2023) developed by Ipieca, the American Petroleum Institute and the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers).
    3. Protected Area, Key Biodiversity Area, and Species data reproduced and incorporated under license from the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) (https://www.ibatalliance.org/). IBAT is provided by BirdLife International, Conservation International, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC. Contact ibat@ibat-alliance.org for further Data.
    4. The upstream area covers the Hela, Southern Highlands, Western and Gulf provinces of Papua New Guinea.