We recognise that our activities contribute to the effects of climate change, primarily through our use of energy. To mitigate these effects we have a programme for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate change could have a wide range of impacts on our operations so we are giving consideration to how we can adapt to manage such impacts.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Our strategy for minimising our carbon footprint is set out  in our Strategic Direction Statement.  We believe we can deliver a leading position in sustainable operations thereby minimising our carbon footprint, provided it does not compromise standards or increase bills beyond levels which customers are willing to pay.

We aim to reduce our carbon impact by

• Generating more electricity from renewable sources
• Making our operations more energy efficient
• Ensuring our offices are energy efficient and minimising fuel use on transport

We have been reporting on our GHG emissions since 2004/05.  In 2008 the UK water industry introduced a new carbon accounting methodology for operational emissions.  Our regulator, OFWAT, required us, and all other water companies, to use this methodology for our regulatory submission (June Return 2008).  This will provide the basis for future reporting on this issue.

The water industry has an overall programme of work on carbon accounting which will result in the development of further methodologies. The programme currently includes developing methodologies for embodied and whole life costing and for non CO2 emissions.

Looking ahead, at Severn Trent we are updating our operational greenhouse gas emissions forecasting tool so that it is in line with the industry accounting tool and projects forward to the next 25 years.

These forecasts will assist us in developing our understanding of the implications of the forthcoming Carbon Reduction Commitment and for developing our carbon reduction strategy.

The forecasting work is highlighting upward pressures on emissions from changes in population and the tightening of water quality standards. This means we are having to invest in increasingly energy intensive treatment processes.  To ensure long term sustainability we are working with our regulators to maximise the benefits to customers and the communities we serve by ensuring that a holistic view is take of the overall impact of raising environmental standards.

Adapting to climate change

Climate change can bring widely ranging weather conditions, for example summer 2007 was the wettest on record causing widespread flooding yet during periods of low winter rainfall there may be insufficient refill to reservoirs.  These effects of climate change coupled with population growth mean that investing in improving the resilience and capacity of our network will become increasingly important.

Our proposed plan for maintaining the balance between water supply and demand over the next 25 years outlines the impacts of climate change on water resources following the Environment Agency guidelines.