Severn Trent Plc
Severn Trent to seek shareholder approval for climate change action plan
The Severn Trent Plc Board today announces its intention to put its climate change action plan before shareholders and seek a non-binding advisory vote on the Company's approach at its AGM on 8 July 2021.
In recent years Severn Trent has increasingly considered how we can both mitigate our own impact on climate change and adapt to the challenges we face in bringing the sustainable provision of services to our customers. We believe it is important that shareholders have the opportunity to engage with the plans we have developed, which we will set out in full ahead of the AGM.
Severn Trent has made a number of key commitments which lie at the heart of our climate change plans:
· In May 2019, we made our Triple Carbon Pledge – committing to net zero carbon emissions, 100% renewable energy and an all-electric vehicle fleet, by 2030.
· In March 2020, to support our climate change plan and broader sustainability agenda, we announced £1.2 billion of investment by 2025 in environmental initiatives including planting 1.3 million trees and boosting the biodiversity of 5,000 hectares of land in our region.
· In January 2021, we submitted several project proposals to Ofwat to invest hundreds of millions of pounds as part of the Green Recovery initiative which, if approved, would enable us to deliver new low carbon water sources, create thousands of new jobs and enhance river quality and flood resilience in our region.
· This week, we submitted our proposed Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions targets to the Science Based Targets Initiative, committing us to deliver significant reductions in our Greenhouse Gas ('GHG') emissions by 2030. We look forward to finalising these in the coming months.
Our Net Zero Pledge
Severn Trent has been accredited by the Carbon Trust since 2009 and during that time we have consistently reduced GHG emissions from our operations, leading to a total reduction of 57% to the end of 2019/20. Over the same period, we have increased our generation of renewable energy to the equivalent of 491 GWh per year, or 51% of our own energy consumption.
As part of our commitment to credible reduction in GHGs, consistent with a 1.5 degree global warming scenario, we will:
· Reduce our Scope 1 and Scope 21 emissions by 46% by 2030, in line with the Science Based Targets Initiative's guideline; and
· Reduce our Scope 3 emissions by engaging with over 70% of our supply chain to take action on their own emissions.
Working in partnership with the Commonwealth Games
Earlier this month we were pleased to announce our partnership with the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to support its ambition to create the most sustainable games yet. We are proud to lead on making it the first carbon neutral games, through a range of nature enhancing offset initiatives, including planting 2,022 acres of forest in the Midlands and 72 mini forests representing each competing nation. Like us, the Games has an ambition to leave a lasting legacy for future generations and we look forward to working with the organising committee in the exciting months to come.
Liv Garfield, Severn Trent Plc CEO, said , “As a water company we take care of one of life's essentials, so a healthy environment is vital to the long term sustainability of our business. Taking positive action to mitigate climate change and ensure we are resilient to its impact is at the core of that goal. We have set ourselves bold ambitions which we believe will benefit all our stakeholders over the long term, which is why we're pleased to offer this engagement opportunity to our shareholders at our upcoming AGM.”
Severn Trent will provide updates on our climate change action plan throughout 2021, starting with the Annual Report and Sustainability Report to be published in June ahead of our AGM on 8 July 2021. At a Capital Markets Day on 24 September 2021, we will also outline our detailed roadmap to Net Zero. The Company will seek an advisory vote every three years on any material changes made or proposed to the climate change action plan.
Annual Results change of date
Severn Trent Plc will now present its annual results for the year ended 31 March 2021 on 19 May 2021 (previously scheduled for 26 May 2021).