The pulp and paper company revealed the investment last month at its Sustainability Forum. It is the first Portuguese company to pledge a 2035 net zero carbon goal, 15 years ahead of the European Union target of 2050 for a carbon neutral Europe.

In a letter to the Sustainability Forum, secretary-general of the United Nations Antonio Guterres said: “Climate change is a threat to our existence. Therefore it is the issue that defines the times in which we live. The challenge is great and requires much more ambition.

“I commend your dedication to the issue of climate change.”

In order to achieve its goal, The Navigator Company has created a carbon neutrality roadmap, with an ambitious set of investments in renewable energies and new technologies to reduce carbon emissions.

It also plans to plant forests to offset emissions that cannot be eliminated.

Forests managed by the company in Portugal have a carbon stock of 5.4 million tonnes, equivalent to the emissions of 1.5 million cars travelling around the world. Its forest ‘nurseries’, the largest in Europe, produce more than 12 million trees of 135 species per year.

Its biannual Sustainability Forum, which debates and explores key sustainability themes, contributes to formulating corporate and strategic policy on social and environmental responsibility issues.

Earlier this year, the company was also ranked a global 'A List' leader in the fight against climate change by the Carbon Disclosure Project, the only Portuguese company to be so distinguished.

With a direct workforce of more than 3,000 people, the company had a turnover of €1.6bn in 2018.