Cadent Releases Annual Sustainability Report: Highlighting Strong Progress to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Goals

Cadent has demonstrated a strong commitment to waste reduction and sustainable practices by:

• Five-fold expansion of Electric Vehicle (EVs) Fleet compared to 2022: resulting in an annual reduction of over 206 tonnes of carbon emissions (tCO2e).
• Enhanced Gas Leakage Management saving 47,190 tonnes of carbon emissions (tCO2e) in 2023.
• Reduction of Landfill Waste: only 2.4 per cent of spoil from site excavations sent to landfill, surpassing the company's targets.

Cadent, an infrastructure and engineering company responsible for the UKs largest Gas Distribution Network, has this week published its 2023 sustainability report. Highlighting key activities, performance and results in its journey to net zero, the report revealed strong progress in areas including reducing environmental impact, helping people in local communities, advancements in driving a safe, inclusive, and respectful workplace, and accelerating a more sustainable gas distribution network in partnership with customers and suppliers.

Throughout 2023, Cadent has bolstered its emissions reductions, water conservation and landfill diversion efforts. Notable achievements include; receiving the Route to Net Zero Standard Taking Action certification by the Carbon Trust, as well as the prestigious GRESB Sector Leader for sustainability in an international ESG league table, being awarded the top mark of 100/100 for ESG performance amongst other high profile recognition and awards.

Furthermore, Cadent is now well on its way to having a zero-emission vehicle fleet across all its regions by 2026, which will see the replacement of up to 2,500 commercial vehicles and equate to around 950 electric vehicles (EVs). The Cadent fleet currently consists of 488 EV commercial vehicles and at the end of 2023, had five times more EVs on the road than in 2022.

"Over this past year, the strides we've made toward our long-term commitments is a testament to our 6,000 employees' ongoing dedication and increased collaboration with our suppliers and customers," said Mark Belmega, Director of Sustainability and Social Purpose, at Cadent. "Sustainability is a continuous journey and for all businesses, there is no single path to reaching net zero. This is why we work tirelessly to embrace sustainable, responsible construction and engineering practices as we maintain and improve our gas network for our customers, doing our part to help address crucial environmental and social call-to-actions to ultimately help safeguard our planet for current and future generations."

Key sustainability initiatives:

• Over the duration of 2023, Cadent fully consolidated three office locations to a new flagship site in Coventry, embodying its commitment to a sustainable future, within a 94,000-square-metre space, utilising state of the art design to reduce environmental impacts. Innovations include Brize soleil to reduce air conditioning use, saving in the region of 30 tonnes of carbon emissions a year, solar panelling capable of 194MWh of power per annum. The offices received first class BREEAM and EPC ratings, as well as the 2023 BCO ESG award, which celebrates projects that have game changing influence on sustainability and ESG within the commercial building sector.
• Internally, the company established two new employee community groups, in addition to its existing five groups. These communities help to identify and address challenges facing colleagues from disadvantaged and underrepresented groups. Each community has a committee, sponsored by a member of the executive leadership team, with the intent of creating an environment where employees can thrive.
• Cadent is committed to enhancing site locations with the aim of increasing biodiversity net gain. Using Defra’s Metric 4.0, it surveyed the current extent of biodiversity at Cadent sites to secure important external biodiversity benchmark certification. Further work saw it promoting best practice to reduce environmental impact and improve biodiversity by introducing proactive vegetation and species management, cutting techniques, wildflower planting, introducing bird boxes, retaining vegetation and habitats and reducing herbicide use.

The full 2023 Sustainability Report is available here.

For more information on Cadent’s sustainability commitments and progress visit – Sustainability - Cadent Gas Ltd (cadentgas.com)