We must all keep up momentum in our journey to Net Zero Sarah Williams, Chief Strategy & Regulation Officer, Pennon

At Pennon, we treasure our beautiful environment across the Greater South West and understand the importance of protecting it. We fully recognise that urgent action is needed now to tackle the challenge of climate change and protect our planet for the future. Additionally, by investing in efficient electric vehicles and moving away from expensive fossil fuels to power our operations, we can keep bills affordable for the long-term. That’s why we must keep up the momentum towards net zero, for the benefit of our customers, our region and the environment. The UK has set a legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, making it the first major economy to do so. In today’s world, the pressing challenge of climate change demands that we take proactive measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and this affects every sector, every business and every household. To become net zero is about achieving a position where the amount of greenhouse gas emitted is balanced with the amount of greenhouse gas removed from the atmosphere.

Whilst climate change is a global issue, it has many local and community impacts, and we are seeing the impact here, every single day. Drought, rising temperatures, flooding, rising sea levels, storm surges and coastal erosion are now too frequently becoming part of our everyday lives, for our customers and the communities we serve.

As the most southern part of the UK, with plenty of countryside and coasts, uplands and picturesque seaside towns, it is no surprise that we welcome 10 million visitors each year to the region.

We know the importance of the scenic coastline and landscapes in supporting our economy and way of life. By

2050 it is predicted a further 530,000 people will live in the region. Our infrastructure and operational capability need to flex to serve the needs of a population that swells by up to 40% during the summer months as visitors flock to our region. And as a region shaped by water, villages, towns and cities tend to be based near the coastline and estuaries - meaning our infrastructure is also located near estuaries or the sea making it vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

In 2021 we launched our Promise to the Planet, our carbon-busting Net Zero plan, which outlined our ambition to reach Net Zero by 2030. Reaching our target is about reducing energy use, becoming more energy efficient and decarbonising our operations. We want to go greener by championing renewables and using 100% renewable electricity. We are also leading the way in natural carbon sequestration through peatland restoration and planting even more trees.

Through engagement, research and feedback from customers, we’ve created a plan for change over the next five years, which has resulted in ‘net zero and environmental gains’ being identified as one of four key strategic priorities for our business. Our net zero strategy is focussed on three pillars:

• Sustainable Living, proactively

reducing our energy and decarbonising our operations.

• Championing Renewables, committing to using 100% renewable energy.

• Reversing Carbon, ensuring well-managed woodlands and healthy peatland to help us reach Net Zero.

I joined Pennon in May this year and I have been excited by the great progress the company is making. Notably, I’m pleased to say that we have reduced our carbon emissions by 40% since 2021. Alongside this, since 2020 we’ve planted over 280,000 trees and have led the South West Peatland Partnership, which has restored 1,630 hectares of peatland - that’s the equivalent of almost 2,300 football pitches. We have improved 80% of the drinking water catchments we work in, through activities such as tree planting and peatland restoration. Last year, we acquired three new renewable energy generation projects under Pennon Power, as part of our commitment to long-term sustainable growth in the UK’s environmental infrastructure. Over recent years, our efficiency team has been hard at work auditing multiple drinking water sites to better understand power consumption to see where we can optimise our operations to reduce the energy we use. In addition, multiple works have been carried out to decrease energy consumption across our sites. At South West Water, ten new solar units have now been added to our operational sites in the last two years with a further two major solar sites underway. The ten units will add a further 1.1 MW of renewable energy generation capacity. In further efforts to reduce our carbon footprint, we have committed to transitioning our petrol and diesel fleet of 1,500 vehicles to electric vehicles by 2030. These projects have directly contributed towards making us as a business, and our everyday operations, greener and more efficient, reducing our operational costs which helps keep bills low for our customers.

While these actions will show tangible results in our carbon footprint, collaboration between companies is key to achieving our shared aim of net zero. We continue to engage with other water companies on our net zero journey. For example, through the Water UK Offsets Steering Group, sharing current practice and learning for nature-based carbon sequestration to figure out a national picture of what our different strengths are in each region.

We also have several carbon reduction commitments which will help us to deliver against our net zero ambition. South West Water is an official sponsor of the Race to Zero - a UN global campaign to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions and investors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery. Along with this our emissions targets were very recently approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a collaboration between the Carbon Disclosure Project,

The United Nations Global Compact, World Resources

Institute and the World Wide Fund for Nature. SBTi is a clearly-defined pathway for companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement - limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

We need to ensure that we continue to make progress towards our targets so that we can help our region reach net zero. We will continue to support and stand shoulder to shoulder with our community and other organisations in the South West to protect the environment and our region for now and for years to come.