Offsetting Carbon Emissions Locally ‘More Beneficial’ Than Overseas
There are more benefits associated with water companies offsetting their carbon emissions in their local regions instead of overseas, with offsetting of operational emissions essential in order to achieve the sector’s routemap to see net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
This is according to Peter Simpson, chief executive of Anglian Water, who explained at the Utility Week Live Summit that it can potentially be more difficult to verify the benefits of offsetting if they happen internationally.
He went on to say that Anglian is now in discussions with customers and stakeholders in its region about offsetting strategies, such as working alongside farmers to sequester the carbon found in soil. This would bring many benefits for local communities – although it was noted that this isn’t necessarily the easy option.
The routemap includes offsetting 40 per cent of operational emissions and the water industry will need to slash approximately ten million tonnes of emissions over the next ten years.
However, Mr Simpson further observed that there are preferred methods of meeting targets, such as reducing water consumption, prioritising renewable energy and exploring biogas to grid – but added that there will be “[a] big gap in net zero goals without some degree of offsetting”.
Back in April, Anglian Water announced that it is now set to embark on a £630 million investment programme over the coming financial year, which is the biggest investment ever planned for a single year – and will be spent across the entire east of England.
The region is not just the driest part of the country but also one of the fastest growing and these funds will be used to improve river quality, make further inroads towards the goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions and readying the east to meet the challenges of both climate change and population growth.
As well as making these challenges a very real focus, the supplier will also continue its heavy investment in maintaining and improving its network, delivering excellent customer service, providing top quality drinking water and bringing environmental and social prosperity to the region.
2021 will see numerous resilience and community-led projects continue, such as £59 million in funding to start the region’s biggest water infrastructure project for a generation, which will see hundreds of kilometres of new interconnecting pipelines and infrastructure installed to move water around to wherever it is needed, whenever it is needed.
In addition, £30 million is due to be spent on the continued rollout of the company’s water meter programme, with hundreds of thousands of upgrades set to be carried out across the region. This will help customers understand water usage and consumption, as well as identifying leaks to help reduce future demand for water.
If you’re keen to do your part as a business and safeguard resources for future generations, get in touch with SWS to discuss the benefits of comparing business water suppliers.