Climate Change Data

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Safety
• Sustainability
• Environmental Performance
• Customer Service
• Community Engagement
• Employee Wellbeing
• Decarbonization
• Hydrogen and Biomethane
• Ethical Conduct
• Diversity and Inclusion

Environmental Achievements

• Reduced business carbon footprint by 5.5%
• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 70% from 1990 levels (exceeding the 2020 target of 45%)
• Reduced energy consumption in offices and depots by 9%
• Procured over 90% certified renewable electricity for offices and depots
• Reduced average emissions from company car fleet from 106 g/km to 94 g/km, with 39% electric/hybrid
• Replaced over 1,809 km of iron mains with polyethylene pipes
• Diverted more than 95% of waste from landfill in mains replacement program
• Reduced waste sent to landfill to 8% (progress towards zero waste by 2021/22)

Social Achievements

• Improved customer satisfaction scores in emergency response, planned works, and connections across all four networks
• Improved same-day closure rates for complaints to over 70%
• Issued carbon monoxide safety advice to 294,990 customers and ran 151 awareness classes
• Supplied over 20,609 carbon monoxide alarms to at-risk customers
• Supported over 4,600 households in fuel poverty
• Engaged over 20,000 customers on various service issues
• Raised over £200,000 for the Alzheimer’s Society
• Reduced Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) from 1.13 to 0.70 per million hours worked (ahead of target)
• Reduced serious injuries to members of the public significantly
• No serious environmental incidents for the third consecutive year
• Implemented safety improvement programs focusing on driver safety, site safety, and cable strikes
• Launched safety leadership training for frontline leaders
• Developed a new safety, health, environment, and security (SHES) management system
• Improved vibration management, musculoskeletal injury management, and mental health and wellbeing programs

Governance Achievements

• Established the Cadent Foundation, committing 1.25% of annual post-tax profits to charitable causes
• Linked executive remuneration to sustainability outcomes (25% of short-term incentive plan and over 20% of long-term incentive plan)
• Implemented a robust ethics program with ethics champions and training on 'Always Doing the Right Thing'
• Developed a Supplier Code of Conduct and Modern Slavery Statement
• Implemented an anti-corruption and bribery policy
• Participation in Sustainability First’s Fair for the Future project

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2050
• Managing aging gas infrastructure
• Minimizing disruption during works
• Addressing customer vulnerability
• Maintaining high levels of network reliability
• COVID-19 pandemic impact on operations and mains replacement
• Addressing gender pay gap and diversity in the workforce

Mitigation Strategies

• Mains replacement program (using polyethylene pipes)
• HyDeploy and HyNet projects (hydrogen blending and production)
• Biomethane connections
• CISBOT technology for efficient main rehabilitation
• Improved customer communication and engagement strategies
• Partnerships with community organizations to support vulnerable customers
• Investment in training and development programs for employees
• Initiatives to improve diversity and inclusion in the workforce

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Supplier Code of Conduct

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Flooding (e.g., Wirksworth, Richmond)

Transition Risks

• Regulatory changes
• Market shifts

Opportunities

• Hydrogen and biomethane projects
• Decarbonisation of fleet

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• 7 Affordable and clean energy
• 8 Decent work and economic growth
• 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure
• 11 Sustainable cities and communities
• 12 Responsible consumption and production
• 13 Climate action
• 17 Partnership for the goals

Cadent's activities contribute to these SDGs through its focus on safety, sustainability, decarbonization, community engagement, and employee wellbeing.

Awards & Recognition

• 'Most Supportive Employer' by the National Autistic Society

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Safety
• Customer Experience
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• Environment
• Climate Change
• Decarbonization

Environmental Achievements

• Recycling or diverting over 96% of general waste (excluding spoil from excavations)
• Part coil PE pipe re-issued for use, limiting new PE pipe purchases
• Introduction of zero-emission vehicles into operations and company car scheme
• New Scope 1 and 2 emission targets set in line with science-based methodology

Social Achievements

• Adoption of flexible working, with no employee furloughs
• Customer safeguarding training for all frontline colleagues, including pandemic-specific content
• Over 80 strategic partnerships with various organizations to support vulnerable customers
• Charitable partnership with Alzheimer's raising over £400,000
• Cadent Foundation awarded 100 new grants totaling over £4.8m

Governance Achievements

• Executive remuneration aligned to long-term sustainability ambition
• Board-level oversight through Safety and Sustainability Committees
• ISO14001:2015 certification for Environmental Management System (23 years)

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Coronavirus pandemic impacting operations and fundraising
• Vulnerable customers needing support during gas supply interruptions

Mitigation Strategies

• Adoption of flexible working
• New 'welfare decision tool' app for emergency engineers
• Pandemic-specific training for frontline engineers
• Quadrupling matched giving funds to support Alzheimer's fundraising

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Ensuring contract partners share sustainability ambitions

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Opportunities

• Hydrogen energy for heating homes and vehicles

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: Science-Based Targets initiative

Certifications: ISO 14001:2015

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate Change
• Fuel Poverty
• Community Engagement
• Workforce Diversity
• Supply Chain Sustainability
• Safety

Environmental Achievements

• 33% reduction in business carbon footprint from 2013/14 levels
• 3% of waste sent to landfill
• Connection of five biomethane plants

Social Achievements

• £84 million in societal benefits from customer vulnerability program
• Training of over 4,000 colleagues to identify vulnerable customers
• Launched a new volunteering program offering 2 paid volunteering days per employee per year

Governance Achievements

• Sustainability outcomes accounted for 35% of maximum potential reward for company performance measures from the Short-Term Incentive Plan
• Long-Term Incentive Plan includes elements for environmental outcomes (50% total)
• AAA rating from MSCI, 19.6 risk rating from Sustainalytics, 4-star rating from GRESB

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Increasing fuel poverty due to rising energy prices (estimated 3.2 million households)
• Environmental challenges related to climate change, flooding, air quality, biodiversity loss, and resource management
• Transition to a greener economy requiring new skills

Mitigation Strategies

• Investment of around £9m to support customers living in fuel poverty
• Initiatives to reduce energy consumption, work with suppliers to reduce virgin resource use, and focus on net-zero construction sites
• Development of hydrogen skills through consultations and reviews, engagement with students for work experience

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Modern Slavery Statement
• Supply Chain Sustainability School partnership

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Flooding

Transition Risks

• Regulatory changes
• Market shifts

Opportunities

• Hydrogen as an alternative to natural gas

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI, TCFD

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy)
• Goal 13 (Climate Action)

Supporting customers with affordable warmth, transitioning to net zero, and improving biodiversity

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate change
• Biodiversity
• Waste reduction
• Sustainable procurement
• Hydrogen
• Social impact

Environmental Achievements

• Reduced all utility energy consumption by 38.6% from 2019/20 baseline.
• Procured 100% certified renewable energy.
• Achieved a 42.3% reduction in business mileage emissions intensity from 2019/20 baseline.
• 1.96% of spoil from excavations sent to landfill in 2023/24.
• All networks met the target of less than 10% backfill being first-use aggregate (North West and Eastern) and 5% (West Midlands and North London).
• Estimated 7% reduction in fugitive emissions from mains and services in North London due to proactive leak detection.
• 5,500kg CO2e reduction in emissions for Hammersmith Bridge Gas Main Reinforcement Project.
• 66% reduction in fuel consumption for Hammersmith Bridge project.
• 2.9% reduction in total shrinkage compared to 2022/23 (35,814.25 tCO2e reduction).

Social Achievements

• Launched Project Bring It IN! (BIIN) to reduce single-use plastics, converting 61 tonnes of plastic packaging to alternatives.
• 593 volunteer days and 3,951 hours used to enhance the local environment.
• Hosted Utilities Against Slavery Strategy Day.

Governance Achievements

• Achieved the ‘Taking Action’ tier of the Carbon Trust’s Route to Net Zero standard (67% score).
• Awarded ‘Sector leader’ status from the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) with a score of 100/100.
• Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) for 2023/24 verified in accordance with ISO 14064-3.

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Shrinkage (leakage, own use gas, theft of gas) representing 95.31% of Cadent’s overall Business Carbon Footprint.
• Cost of reinforcement for biomethane connections.
• Uncertainty around future funding for HyNet project.

Mitigation Strategies

• Mains replacement programme, gas pressure management, and innovation projects to reduce shrinkage.
• Industry review of pricing arrangements for biomethane connections.
• Bidding for hydrogen pipeline and storage funding for HyNet.

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 91% of suppliers by spend value meet Cadent’s supplier code.

Responsible Procurement

• Supplier Code of Conduct
• Supply Chain Sustainability School onboarding
• Sustainability criteria in procurement events

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Extreme weather events
• Floods
• Storms

Transition Risks

• Decarbonisation of the energy system

Opportunities

• Hydrogen blending
• Biomethane connections

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: Greenhouse Gas Protocol, Ofgem’s RIIO-GD2 Environmental Reporting guidance

Certifications: ISO 14001:2015, Carbon Trust’s Route to Net Zero Standard, ISO 14064-3 (GHG verification)

Third-party Assurance: The Carbon Trust

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Goal 7 (Affordable and clean energy)
• Goal 13 (Climate action)

Force for Good strategy based on high impact and high importance SDGs.

Awards & Recognition

• Two Green Apple Awards
• GRESB Sector Leader