Why is net zero important?
The disastrous effects of climate change, such as extreme weather, can already be seen. Tackling carbon emissions is key to reducing the harmful greenhouse gases which cause climate change.
That’s why we’ve been involved in developing the sector’s route map to commit to zero emissions in line with the UK government’s national net zero carbon goal.
How are we going to reach net zero?
In 2021, we published our initial Net Zero Plan, confirming our commitment to the Water UK Public Interest Commitment to net zero operational emissions by 2030 (market-based approach).
This was an interim target in our long-term strategy to reach net zero by 2050. We recognise the important role we, and the water sector must play in reducing emissions while balancing this with the need to provide our services at an affordable price to our customers.
Forecasts against our 2050 commitment indicate that our plans up to 2050 will mean we can't achieve net zero without the use of offsets for residual emissions. We face significant challenges in delivering our net zero 2050 commitment. These challenges are both in terms of feasibility and deployment.
We believe the best value to our customers will not be served by purchasing external offsets and our strategy isn't to purchase these on the external market. As an alternative, we're continuing to explore how we could support medium- to long-term carbon sequestration through our strategic land management plan and nature-based solutions. We're working with the wider water sector to understand the range and scale of carbon offsetting opportunities.
We will better align our net zero transition planning with our long-term delivery strategy and look beyond solely operational emissions. This means we will align our plans with the government’s 2050 net zero target and regulator Ofwat’s direction to focus on location-based Scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
Our Net Zero Plan sets out our journey towards zero carbon and how we can work with our partners to find sustainable solutions.