Climate Change

Climate change is possibly one of the greatest change challenges facing society in the 21st century.

During 2007/08, we reviewed our climate change strategy (first approved in 2006), and concluded that we should increase our target of reducing our Scope 1 and 2 emissions of greenhouse gases to 80% against our baseline ahead of 2050, compared with our prior 60% reduction target. This target is ambitious and will challenge us to develop, now and over the next 42 years, new ways of conducting our business to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We will deliver our revised 80% reduction target through our climate change initiative, with a corporate team that will work with each of our lines of business to deliver the target. The initiative is structured around three elements which we believe will transform our business:

* fully integrating sustainability and climate change considerations into our business decisions, including the setting of carbon budgets within each of our lines of business;
*influencing legislators and regulators to reshape energy markets to meet the climate change challenge; and
*helping and supporting our customers, employees and suppliers in changing their behaviours so as to be more considerate of the environment

Against our baseline for continuing operations, to date we have achieved an approximate 38% reduction.

During 2007/08, our Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions amounted to some 4.1 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent, compared with 4.3 million tonnes in 2006/07 and 4.8 million tonnes in 2005/06.

A detailed analysis of our greenhouse gas emissions, including those associated with sulphur hexafluoride, energy use and transport, is available in the Performance Section of this website.

The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme

The purpose of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is to reduce the level of carbon dioxide emitted by placing a financial incentive on participants to reduce their emissions of this greenhouse gas. Allowances are granted to participants in accordance with a national allocation plan and any shortfall or surplus can be traded with other participants.

Our total allocation under the scheme for 2007 was approximately 1.45 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. 

Our allowance cover emissions from gas-fuelled compressors on our UK gas transmssion network, the Isle of Grain liquefied natural gas (LNG) importation terminal and our other LNG storage facilities.