Business Stream to cut 20% emissions this year

Water retailer Business Stream has pledged to cut its carbon emissions by 20 per cent over the next 12 months as part of a wider ambition to become net-zero by 2040.

The Edinburgh-based company will work with contractors to ensure they are taking steps to limit their own emissions as well as reviewing its own vehicle fleet, travel policies and adapting its paper use and printing processes.

Jo Dow, chief executive of Business Stream, said: “Our business is committed to making a positive difference to the environment. Our new carbon reduction pledge demonstrates that we’re doing more than simply talking about net zero, we’re pro-actively taking steps to significantly reduce our environmental impact.”

Dow, who chairs the Business in the Community Scotland’s Climate Action Group, said the organisation has a responsibility to reach the ambitious target for the sake of the environment and communities.

Reductions achieved this year will be measured against Business Stream’s 2018-2019 carbon footprint baseline.

As part Scottish Water, Business Stream is committed to its parent company’s goal to reach net zero by 2040. The parent company pledged to put net zero at the heart of its business in-line with Scottish Government’s decarbonisation ambitions.

Scottish Water has begun replacing its fleet with electric vehicles (EVs) as it aims to remove all petrol and diesel cars and phase out the need for non-EV light commercial vehicles by 2025 and all commercial vehicles by 2030.

Together with Business Stream, it is scoping suitable sites around Scotland for a tree planting initiative to sequester carbon.

Water companies in England and Wales, coordinated by Water UK, have set out a routemap to remove 10 mega tonnes of carbon from operations and processes by 2030. It aims to reduce emissions by 60 per cent and offset the remaining 40 per cent in the coming decade.