Climate change
Our water and waste water services are dependent on the weather and climate.
Scientific evidence tells us that the climate is changing due to human greenhouse gas emissions.
We've already seen early signs of this change, plant's leaf buds are opening earlier each Spring and sea levels are rising along our coastline. Latest research has found that rainfall has become more intense.
In the coming decades, our winters are likely to be warmer and wetter and our summers drier and hotter. There are also likely to be more frequent and more extreme weather events which can cause significant damage and disruption, for example storms which can cause flooding.
What we're doing about climate change
We need to make sure that we can maintain the high levels of service our customers expect, now and in the future. So we're doing three things:
Our position on climate change
We have six statements that summarise our position on climate change:
- The climate has been changing and will continue to change
- Climate change presents risks to our strategic objectives and the services we provide
- We'll quantify the climate change risks that face our business
- We'll develop long-term plans to manage the climate change risks that face our business
- We'll promote activities to address our climate change risks
- We'll drive initiatives to empower every employee to reduce carbon emissions and prepare for the changing climate
By acknowledging and committing to these statements, we can do our bit to understand the impact of our actions and achieve our vision of taking responsibility for the water environment for good.