Severn Trent Plc | NET ZERO TRANSITION PLAN
How other organisations have declared their voting intentions
| Organisation name | Declared voting intentions | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Ircantec | Against | The company aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 across all its scopes. It states its intention to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 46.2% by 2031, based on 2020 levels, and to reduce absolute Scope 3 emissions from sold products by 13.5% over the same period. However, this target only covers 5.6% of its Scope 3 emissions in 2024. Additionally, Severn Trent commits to ensuring that 70% of its suppliers set science-based targets by 2026, covering emissions from purchased goods and services, capital goods, upstream transportation and distribution, as well as waste generated from operations. However, the SBTi targets do not extend beyond 2031, meaning there is no long-term commitment, and there is also no 1.5°C-aligned target for Scope 3, which represents the majority of emissions in 2024. Moreover, emissions are not decreasing; on the contrary, Scope 3 emissions increased by 14.41% in one year. As such, the available information on GHG emissions is unsatisfactory. Regarding its action plan, it is well detailed for Scopes 1 & 2, specifying the contribution of key actions to emissions reductions, but less so for Scope 3, where only a few examples are provided and few elements are quantified. In terms of spending, the company should be commended for publishing its 2025–2030 investment plan aligned with its Net Zero action plan, although it does not break down spending by specific action. Furthermore, the company does not have a quantified decarbonization target for its entire Scope 3, making it unclear how it plans to achieve its "Net Zero" goals. It also lacks a quantified long-term decarbonization target (beyond 2031) for all its scopes. The exact level of planned offsetting—an important part of the action plan—is not specified, although the strategy includes a significant amount of avoided emissions (116,097 tCO2e in 2024/2025), which are included in the net emissions calculation. For all these reasons, Ircantec voted against Severn Trent’s Say on Climate resolution, while acknowledging the positive step toward transparency and encouraging the company to continue its efforts by validating long-term science-based emissions reduction targets. Finally, we encourage the company to renew this Say on Climate exercise, as it has committed to doing every three years. |
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