Jay Mariyappan has left the United States-based asset manager Evolution Environmental Asset Management (EEAM) after nearly two years to join PetroChina International as its head of carbon and renewables.
Mariyappan, a veteran in the clean energy space, joined the global commodities trading arm of Asia’s largest oil and gas producer PetroChina at the end of July. His role will be “to lead its origination in carbon and renewables and manage its carbon business in Asia Pacific,” Mariyappan told Eco-Business.
Mariyappanwill be helping to grow the company’s existing carbon business globally in the voluntary markets space, alongside the compliance and renewables markets in this region. PetroChina International’s carbon business started a few years ago with compliance markets and some voluntary transactions for products and customers.
The newly created role will support PetroChina’s aim to peak its carbon emissions by around 2025 and reach “near zero” emissions by 2050.
The state-backed oil giant announced its “near zero” target for its own operations by 2050 – the first publicly confirmed near net-zero goal by a national oil company in Asia – in 2020. It has yet to commit to a net-zero goal for the use of energy products it sells.
PetroChina chairman Dai Houliang has said that the firm is on track for renewables to account for seven per cent of its energy portfolio by 2025. The company is aiming to raise this proportion to one-third of its energy portfolio by 2035 and 50 per cent by 2050.
Mariyappan will continue to be based in Singapore, one of the three international trading hubs under PetroChina International, with the others being in London and Houston.
He joined EEAM as a founding partner in 2021 to build capacity in global carbon reduction and removal projects. Previously, Mariyappan joined Malaysian oil and gas giant Petronas to launch and head its renewables division in 2018. Prior to his stint at Petronas, he spent a decade at Singapore-based Sindicatum as a managing director, where he specialised in methane reduction and renewable energy projects.
