The UK’s largest electricity distribution network operator has had its target of being Net Zero by 2040 validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), ahead of the International Day of Climate Action (October 24).
UK Power Networks which operates across London, the East and South East, is the first UK electricity network operator to be validated to the SBTi’s Net Zero Standard.
To limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C the SBTi stresses that global emissions have to be halved by 2030 and the world has to achieve net-zero before 2050.
Mark Adolphus, director of Health, Safety, Sustainability and Connections at UK Power Networks said: “We realise the urgency of taking action. The latest climate science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – described by the United Nations as “code red for humanity” – shows it is still possible to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C, but we are dangerously close to that threshold.
“We are determined to play our part, both on our own emissions and in helping society’s transition to Net Zero, for example as people increasingly use electricity to power transport and home heating.”
UK Power Networks has also been working extensively with its supply chain to reduce carbon emissions and encouraging partners to align with climate science by committing to science-based 1.5°C and Net Zero targets too.
UK Power Networks’ validated science-based targets are:
• Overall Net Zero target: reach net-zero Green House Gas (GHG) emissions across the value chain by FY2040.
• Targets: reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 53% by 2029 from a 2019 base year. The company also commits to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions 25% within the same timeframe.
• Long-term targets: Reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 90% by 2040 from a 2019 base year. The company also commits to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions 90% within the same timeframe.
Peter Chisnall of Green Peaches, who has been the external auditor conducting Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme audits of UK Power Networks since 2015, said: “I have worked with UK Power Networks for a number of years now auditing their energy saving actions and I know just how committed they are to saving energy and reducing carbon. They certainly take their commitments very seriously.”