Delivering our sustainability strategy - a year of progress
It has been another important year for sustainability since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommendation to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, with the UK and Scottish Governments legislating Net Zero targets for 2050 and 2045 respectively.
As the Transmission Owner for the north of Scotland, we recognise – and are acting on – the critical role we play in achieving net zero emissions. Last year was another record year for connections of renewable electricity to our network: with a further 1GW being energised. Our network now supports over 6GW of clean, renewable electricity, more than double the capacity of a decade ago and producing enough energy to power around 5 million homes and businesses across GB.
In May 2018 we published our holistic Sustainability Strategy with six broad and bold sustainability ambitions. Over the past year we have worked with stakeholders to develop a detailed Sustainability Plan that turns our Sustainability Strategy into action. Through this plan we show the tangible steps we will take towards our goal of Leadership in Sustainability. Stakeholders have also made a huge contribution to our planning for the RIIO-T2 period. Based on stakeholders’ views we have placed sustainability at the heart of our RIIO-T2 Business Plan, A Network for Net Zero
Our annual sustainability report shows that we have made progress in all of our sustainability ambitions over the past year. In some areas that progress has been rapid and material: developing our science-based carbon reduction target in-line with the 1.5 degree climate science pathway; adopting alternatives to SF6insulating gas; piloting our methodology for biodiversity net gain; supporting local supply chains; and defining our approach for optimising resources.
However, we still have much to do and are just at beginning of implementing our Sustainability Strategy. Looking ahead, we are excited about our future plans and delivering a Network for Net Zero.
The full annual Sustainability Report 2018/19 can be found here.