Over a decade ago we had come to the realisation that we had a clear duty to tackle our emissions - not just because the water sector is generally one of the most power hungry, but because the rural nature and flat landscape of our region means we need even more energy than most to pump water to where it is needed. We all know it is more urgent than ever to try to undo – or at least put a stop to – the damage we are doing to our planet, and to adapt our assets to be fit for the future.
Here at Anglian Water, we never stop looking for ways to reduce our carbon emissions, and we're on track to generate 45% of our energy from our own renewable sources by 2025 and become a fully net zero carbon business by 2030.
What is net zero?
Net zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas produced by a business and the amount removed from the atmosphere, by taking mitigating action. We’ll reach net zero when the amount we add is no more than the amount taken away.
Our pledge
In 2020, the water industry published its routemap on how the sector will reach net zero for operational emissions in less than a decade. It is the world’s first example of an entire industry coming together to develop a sector-wide plan to drive down emissions.
You can find our bespoke net zero routemap here. It sets out how we’ll reach our ambitious goal through a three-step hierarchy:
- Managing and reducing emissions by installing monitoring equipment at four large Anglian Water sites to inform our plan on achieving net zero emissions by 2030
- Decarbonising our electricity supply, vehicle fleet, as well as focusing on procuring green electricity
- Removing or offsetting our residual emissions by planting 50 hectares of woodland on Anglian Water sites, exploring nature-based opportunities using wetlands, marshes and grasslands and working with landowners to develop land management schemes that avoid and remove emissions.
These case studies showcase some of the projects we’ve begun on our journey:
- Ingoldisthorpe - the natural wetland that recycles water
- Grafham solar array - providing energy for our water treatment site
- Tomato greenhouse - low carbon farming
- Grafham resilience project - BCI award
- CHP power - poo power in our region
Of course, we can’t do this alone, we’ll be working with our customers, the Government, regulators and our supply chain to help deliver to these plans and be an industry leader on this journey. We co-sponsor the water sector’s net zero carbon commitment with Northumbrian Water and Yorkshire Water and chair the Water UK Carbon Working Group. Our CEO Peter Simpson is playing a leading role in driving progress to net zero across British industry through his co-chairship of the UK branch of CLG UK, the Corporate Leaders Group in the UK, whose members are committed to achieve net zero carbon emissions.
Anglian Water CEO Peter Simpson
Greenhouse gas emissions - annual report
- pdf, 2.54 MB | 27 Jan 2023 DownloadGreenhouse gas emissions report 2022
Net zero strategy to 2030
Greenhouse gas emissions - archived reports
- pdf, 1.22 MB | 30 Jan 2023 DownloadGreenhouse gas emissions report 2021
- pdf, 2.63 MB | 20 Aug 2020 DownloadGreenhouse gas emissions report 2020
- pdf, 1.37 MB | 20 Aug 2020 DownloadGreenhouse gas emissions report 2019
- pdf, 1.63 MB | 29 Jan 2019 DownloadGreenhouse gas emissions report 2018
- pdf, 2.47 MB | 30 Apr 2019 DownloadGreenhouse gas emissions report 2017
- pdf, 4.46 MB | 30 Apr 2019 DownloadGreenhouse gas emissions report 2016
- pdf, 7.13 MB | 30 Apr 2019 DownloadGreenhouse gas emissions report 2015
- pdf, 1.66 MB | 30 Apr 2019 DownloadGreenhouse gas emissions report 2014
- pdf, 3.51 MB | 30 Apr 2019 DownloadGreenhouse gas emissions report 2013
- pdf, 1.72 MB | 11 Oct 2019 DownloadGreenhouse gas emissions report 2012
- pdf, 1.69 MB | 11 Oct 2019 DownloadGreenhouse gas emissions report 2011
- pdf, 0.72 MB | 11 Oct 2019 DownloadGreenhouse gas emissions report 2010