Thames Water publishes fourth annual ESG Statement

Thames Water has today published its fourth Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Statement.

The statement brings together five years of data in an accessible and transparent format to give a balanced view of performance against three key measures: 

• Environment: The effect operations have on the natural environment
• Social: Relationships with employees, suppliers, customers and communities, and external impact on the economy
• Governance: The way the business is governed, covering leadership, remuneration, audits and internal control and external shareholder dividends

Thames Water began publishing the statement in 2018, which goes beyond statutory requirements and demonstrates a commitment to transparency, ensuring business activities are conducted in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible way.

CEO Sarah Bentley said: “It’s been another important year as we continue to strive to improve performance for our customers.

“We know that we don’t always get things right and there are longstanding issues we need to solve, which will be our core areas of focus going forward. These include reducing leakage and preventing pollutions and sewer discharges into our precious rivers and chalk streams.

“Earlier this year we announced our commitment to reaching net zero carbon emissions across all operations by 2030. As part of our environmental focus, we’ll be placing further emphasis on how we can generate more renewable energy from the waste treatment process.

“We’re also exploring how we can provide job opportunities to those with fewer skills and qualifications in our local communities, and expanding our support for vulnerable customers."

Read the full ESG Statement.