Andrea Barrett, Director of Responsible Business, explains our ambition to tackle climate change and help our customers live more sustainable lives.
Last month our Group Chief Executive, Iain Conn, announced an update to Centrica’s strategy. At its heart is a commitment to help our customers move to a cleaner, greener energy future, which further strengthens our ambition to tackle climate change and help our customers live more sustainable lives. I believe it's a strategy that will deliver shared value for our customers, our business and the environment.
A key point of our future strategy is that we will exit hydrocarbon production, as well complete the sale of our nuclear business by the end of 2020. This signifies the completion of the journey we started in 2015 to be a simpler, consumer-facing energy services and solutions provider – one that’s in the business of helping to reduce carbon and enabling customers to transition to a lower carbon future.
This announcement builds on the introduction of our bold and challenging 2030 Responsible Business Ambitions, which we set earlier in the year. These include our commitment to tackle climate change by developing plans to achieve net zero by 2050; delivering 7GW of flexible, distributed and low carbon technologies to enable a decarbonised energy system and helping our customers reduce their emissions by 25 per cent by 2030 (in line with the Paris Agreement).
Find out more about our Ambitions
On our ambition to help our customers reduce their emissions by 25 per cent by 2030, we know that our customers increasingly want energy solutions to help them run their world in more sustainable ways - whether that’s at home, at work or on the move. We’re already at the forefront of developing sustainable energy technologies which are delivering this change – from providing home energy management solutions such as Hive Active Heating, to installing low carbon solutions like solar and electric vehicle charging for our business customers.
Very excitingly, we’ve just announced a new partnership with Ford, the UK’s biggest car selling manufacturer, which will see us deliver a dedicated home charging installation service (via British Gas engineers) and cheaper EV tariffs that will allow Ford customers to benefit from lower energy prices for overnight charging. We know that the key to mass adoption of electric vehicles is to offer a greater range of vehicles and cheaper, simpler and faster charging solutions. Together, that’s exactly what British Gas and Ford will offer. We believe many more people and businesses will choose an electric vehicle as a result.
Electric vehicles are just one of the obvious ways we can all make the move to a cleaner and greener future. However, there are other significant opportunities for our industry and Centrica to develop low carbon energy technologies that will fundamentally transform the power, heat and transport sectors and change the way we all live, work and move in the future. I have no doubt that we will continue to see innovation, digitalisation and collaboration, like our tie-up with Ford, and I am excited to help drive this critical sustainability agenda.
Our business (like many other sectors and companies who are transforming to be fit for the future), faces challenges. We will continue to face these challenges, as we fully complete our transformation and lead the energy transition. However, I believe our strategy is one that will deliver results and shared value for all in the long term. Above all, I am proud to see Centrica driving initiatives that will make a low carbon energy future a reality for us all.