Our People & Planet Plan

At Centrica, we’re helping to create a more sustainable and inclusive future that supports our communities, our planet – and each other.

Our People & Planet Plan builds on the progress of our Responsible Business Ambitions and advances action through five global goals focused in areas that matter deeply to our business and society, and where we’re well placed to make a world of difference – from accelerating our shift to net zero, to building the engaged and inclusive team that will help us get there.

The journey ahead is a long one – but by taking steps every day, we know we can reach these ambitious goals.

Working together for our planet

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges the world faces – and the energy sector is at the forefront of the need to respond. 

That’s why we’re committing to be being a net zero business by 2045 and helping our customers be net zero by 2050.

Helping our customers reach net zero by 2050

Around 90% of our carbon emissions come from our customers, so the biggest thing we can do to fight climate change is to help them use energy more sustainably.

Since 2015 we’ve helped customers cut around 9.4 million tonnes of carbon, which is equivalent to the annual emissions of 3.1 million households. We’re supporting every customer to live more sustainably by transforming the way they live, work and move.

As well as providing a wide range of energy efficiency and optimisation solutions – like Hive, smart meters and boiler upgrades –  we’re also providing a low carbon energy supply with 100% zero carbon electricity for all UK customers, fuel switching technologies like electric vehicle charging and incentivising customers to manage when they use energy based on supply and demand.

We’re continuing to find solutions to some of the key challenges related to decarbonisation. We’re launching a trial to test the role heat pumps could play in cutting emissions from household heating in an affordable way. And, we’re working in partnership to build the world’s first net zero industrial cluster in the UK by 2040, using ground-breaking hydrogen, carbon capture and storage technology.

Becoming a net zero business by 2045

We’ve already made significant strides in reducing our own impact –  emitting over 80% less carbon than we did a decade ago, as well as gaining a CDP ‘A’ rating for leadership on our action and disclosure on climate change.

We’re accelerating this shift. We’ve brought forward our target to electrify our 12,000-strong British Gas fleet to 2025, placed the largest commercial EV order in the UK (3,000 vehicles), and introduced plans to never purchase another combustion engine vehicle. And we plan to complete our strategic transformation to exit oil and gas exploration and production, while seeking opportunities to expand energy efficiency, onsite generation and green tariffs.

Building inclusive teams and communities

Our people are at the heart of our business and to build a more sustainable future, we need the best possible team – with a diverse mix of people and skills, where everyone feels welcome and able to succeed. That’s why we’re continuing to build a more engaged, skilled and inclusive workforce.

Creating an engaged and inclusive team that reflects the full diversity of the communities we serve by 2030

While we’ve made good progress in creating a more inclusive team in recent years – we need to go further and ensure we’re supporting every colleague to be themselves and deliver for our customers and communities. We’ve broadened our inclusion goals to target greater representation - with all company and senior leaders to reflect 47% female, 14% ethnic minority, 15% disability, 3% LGBTQ+ and 3% ex-service by 2030, which will evolve in line with census data. Achieving gender parity by 2030 will be particularly tough given our engineering team and wider workforce is traditionally male, but aiming high is the right approach to deliver the change we all need and want.

We’re also making access to opportunities fairer and building a culture that promotes and values difference. This includes expanding our reverse mentoring scheme and unconscious bias training, as well as creating a shadow board of diverse colleagues to ensure continuous improvement and feedback at the highest level.

Recruiting 3,500 apprentices and providing career development opportunities for under-represented groups

Skills development will be critical to helping communities recover from the current economic difficulties and leading the green recovery. We want to play a key role in this, so we’re increasing development opportunities and removing roadblocks for people from under-represented groups.

Having supported over 500 schools with lessons on energy and the environment via TechWeCan and helped more than 1,800 young people not in education, employment or training to learn new skills through Movement to Work, we’ll expand opportunities via partnerships like these and provide world-class apprenticeships.

We’ve committed to recruiting 1,000 apprentices over two years with the ambition that 50% will be women. We are already well on our way to hitting this target.

Inspiring colleagues to volunteer 100,000 days to build inclusive communities by 2030

We’re harnessing the passion of our people to build inclusive communities because they are central to a more sustainable future.

Building on the community support we delivered during COVID-19 – including donating £1 million to Carers UK to provide vital services and partnering with the Trussell Trust to volunteer 58,000 hours and deliver over 4 million meals to those most in need –  our ambition is to give 100,000 days to build inclusive communities over the next decade.  

To achieve this, we’ll continue inspiring our colleagues to make a difference through key partnerships with the Trussell Trust, Carers UK and Focus Ireland, while growing volunteering opportunities that encourage the next generation into energy as well as support under-represented groups to flourish.

And through the British Gas Energy Trust, we’ll continue to help families and individuals in need of support – with financial advice and grants to anyone struggling with their energy and household bills.

We know our goals are ambitious. But by making progress every day and working together, they are achievable. Over the next decade, we’ll harness the collective expertise of our colleagues and collaborate with governments, partners and local communities, to further shape our plans and drive forward a more sustainable future together.

Explore more in our People & Planet Update