SES Water and Wessex Water latest to join UN-backed Race to Zero

SES Water and Wessex Water have become the latest water companies to join Race to Zero, a global campaign to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, investors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery by 2030.

The move comes after South West Water and Welsh Water also revealed they were joining the campaign in June of this year.

As well as the above SES Water and Wessex Water join water companies Anglian Water, Severn Trent, United Utilities and South East Water with this pledge, as well as the following water companies globally: Aguas Andinas (Chile), Suez (France), Pura Somos Agua (Spain), Epal (Portugal), Yarra Valley Water (Australia), and Proyecta Agua Segura (Argentina).

Together, SES Water and Wessex Water supply water and wastewater services to over 3.5 million customers in the south and southwest of England, and both have recently published detailed plans to achieve net zero operational emissions by 2030.

The UK water industry’s commitment to net zero was solidified last November with the publication of the Net Zero 2030 Routemap, making it the first sector in the world to publish a detailed routemap to achieve net zero on operational emissions by 2030. This now acts as a framework that all UK water companies can use to guide their own journeys to net zero.

SES Water chief executive Ian Cain said: “We’re proud to be the first UK water-only company to make this commitment, demonstrating that our smaller size has no impact on the level of our environmental ambitions.

“Over the last ten years we have made great strides in reducing the emissions we create, cutting them by nearly 90 per cent, by generating more of our own solar power, switching to 100% renewable electricity and having the most extensive fleet of electric vehicles in the industry. But each day we use enough electricity to power 13,000 homes and it’s clear there is much more we need to do, along with the rest of the sector, to reduce the impact of pumping, treating and distributing millions of litres of water every single day.

“That’s why we will be working hard - with our employees, customers and suppliers - to deliver what is in our route map and play our part in not only protecting the environment but improving it for the benefit of everybody.”

Wessex Water chief executive Colin Skellett said: “There is no doubt we are in the midst of a climate crisis. Unless substantially reduced or removed, these gases will result in a level of global warming that will be catastrophic for humanity and most of the world’s remaining ecosystems. The climate is changing rapidly and the effects will become more severe unless we act now.

“It is critical that we focus our efforts on ways to neutralise our carbon footprint and are committed to achieving net zero operational carbon emissions by 2030. However, we must decarbonise all aspects of our work, and will work to achieve net zero total emissions by 2040 at the latest.

“Delivering our plan will require investment, collaboration and innovation. We will work with our communities, customers and other stakeholders to meet this challenge, with new ways of working and use of emerging technologies. We look forward to working together to play our part in halting the environmental and societal damage being caused by climate change.”

Water UK – a membership organisation which represents all major statutory water and wastewater service providers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern – is working as an official partner to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change-backed Race to Zero encouraging providers of water and wastewater services around the world to commit to achieving net zero ahead of COP26.