February 2026 – Biofuelwatch has released a new briefing report, delving into detail about the ways in which this company relies on greenwashing, opaque supply chains and unethical practices in its pursuit of biofuels. Entitled Neste’s Biofuels – Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, it outlines how a history of destructive practices raises more questions than answers for the Finnish oil major. The briefing comes at the culmination of a time period that has seen significant expansion in Neste’s ambitions and operations.
The briefing covers several key issues with this burgeoning biofuels trade, including the fact that a supposed ‘transition’ is underway, with refineries in Singapore and California already producing HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) and talks underway to convert a third in Finland from petroleum to biofuels. Yet this supposed progress actually brings more harm than good, due to the severe environmental and social impacts of growing common biofuel feedstocks like palm and soy in former rainforests on indigenous territories.
Describing their feedstocks as largely based upon wastes and residues in order to avoid damaging land use change, Neste nonetheless rely on commodities such as PFAD (palm fatty acid distillate), possessing independent demand chains and known to drive deforestation and other forms of habitat loss such as peatland drainage. Other potential waste feedstocks, such as UCO, are known to be highly fraud-vulnerable due to the premium on them compared to virgin oils, and it has been frequently observed that more is consumed annually than the global economy could feasibly produce.
‘What researching this briefing has demonstrated to us is the extent to which Neste continues to profit from a business model where environmental destruction, human suffering, and non-disclosure of crucial information are the norm,’ said Pax Butchart, Biofuels Campaigner for Biofuelwatch. ‘They are bringing the oil industry playbook to their supposedly ‘green’ endeavours, and causing untold harm in the process.’
The briefing can be found here.
Background information
Neste is a liquid fuels refining and marketing company headquartered in Finland. It manufactures and refines a variety of oil products, provides engineering services, and has over the last 20 years moved aggressively into the global liquid biofuel sector. The company has operations in more than a dozen countries.
Neste stock is traded on the Helsinki stock exchange, with its largest shareholder being the office of the Prime Minister of Finland. Asset managers like Vanguard and BlackRock are also noteworthy institutional investors in Neste.
For the past decade Neste has increasingly focused on biofuels and bioplastics alongside fossil fuels, and since 2019 have expanded to become one of the world’s largest biofuel suppliers, with their headquarters for this arm of their operations located in Singapore.
A Neste refinery in California. Credit: Gary Hughes/Biofuelwatch