Environmental sustainability
Climate change mitigation and carbon reduction
Carbon reduction targets are set for short, medium and long-term. The long-term aim, set out in our 25-year Strategic Direction Statement (published in 2007), is to meet the carbon reduction targets that emerge from the developing national framework. This targets a reduction of 80% of our carbon emissions by 2050 (on a 2006/07 baseline). Since 88% of our carbon emissions are associated with our consumption of energy, the largest opportunity to mitigate our carbon emissions comes from controlling our energy usage.
Initiatives to reduce energy use are described in the sections on 'energy efficiency' and 'renewable energy generation'.
2010/11 Target
Achieve 1.2% reduction in emissions compared with 2009/10 from energy use.
Not met
For 2010/11 the target set for the year was a reduction of 1.2% from energy use. Our actual performance was 0.7%, the shortfall being largely attributable to some clean water capital work taking longer than scheduled and requiring increased use of pumping facilities. The target for 2011/12 is a reduction of 3.3% carbon emissions from energy use from a 2009/10 baseline.
In 2010 we received certification under the Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction (CEMARS) scheme for our carbon reporting: this accreditation is independently assessed and can only be achieved by organisations that have made credible emissions reductions over the past three years and have robust carbon reduction plans for the future. We achieved certification by demonstrating an absolute reduction in Greenhouse gas emissions over the last three years, and by proving more than 2.5% reduction in emissions intensity (tCO2e/£ turnover) over the same period.