Centrica’s People & Planet Plan

Centrica has a significant role to play in helping the UK’s electricity system to decarbonise. From battery storage to solar farms; from decarbonising homes, to hydrogen-powered CHP – we’re well placed to help build a cleaner, greener future in the UK, for the UK.

We also have an important responsibility to make our own operations more sustainable. We have set clear goals for decarbonising both our own organisation and our customers. But we know that building a more sustainable future is also about people – so we have also set ambitious targets to ensure our business reflects the full diversity of the communities we serve.

Our sustainability goals are documented in our People & Planet Plan. It outlines how we intend to create a more inclusive and sustainable future that supports our communities, our customers and each other. Through this, we aim to be net zero business by 2045 and help our customers be net zero by 2050.

Watch the video below for an overview of our sustainability goals. Or keep reading, for more detailed information and an overview of our progress to date.

People

We will support every colleague to be themselves to better serve our customers and communities. We want to:

Diversity

To build a more sustainable future, we need the best team – a diverse mix of people and skills, where everyone feels welcome and able to succeed. That’s why we want all company and senior leaders to reflect 48% women, 18% ethnically diverse, 20% disability, 3% LGBTQ+ and 4% ex-service by 2030 (in line with 2021 Census data for working populations).

We’re making good progress against this goal, with the proportion of women on our team improving for the first time in a long time and we’re now on track. Although some representational gains were achieved across ethnicity, disability, LGBTQ+ and ex-service, opportunities for improvement remain, including through driving self-declaration to help us better understand where to focus action.

Future talent

We’ve a huge opportunity to tap into the talent of under-represented groups to deliver a greener and more inclusive future. That’s why we’re hiring the equivalent of an apprentice every day over the next decade while removing roadblocks for under-represented groups. By the end of 2022, we were on track - having recruited 1,033 apprentices since 2021.

Volunteering

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

We’ve significantly ramped up volunteering, delivering 2,098 days in 2022 which was a massive 600% increase from 2021 and brings our total tally to 12,987 days since 2019. This was achieved with the launch of ‘The Big Difference’ which is mobilising colleagues to get involved in local causes they care passionately about.

Planet

We will support every home and business customer to live and operate more sustainably. We want to:

Helping our customers be net zero

With around 90% of our total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions coming from our customers, the biggest thing we can do to fight climate change is to help them use energy more sustainably.

In 2022, we provided energy, services and solutions that cut the GHG intensity of our customers’ energy use by 6% against our 2019 base year – equivalent to saving the annual emissions of around 630,000 homes. In addition, our green-focused investment plan will see us invest between £600m - £800m a year until 2028 in renewable generation, security of supply, and our customers.

Becoming a net zero business

Having moved away from most of our carbon-intensive assets to provide low-carbon services and solutions for customers, we emit over 70% less carbon than a decade ago.

In 2022, our total GHG emissions decreased by 6% against the 2019 base year. With our Whitegate power station resuming normal operations to boost energy security and provide a stable baseload power for intermittent renewables following an outage in 2021, savings were down from the temporary reduction achieved that year. But overall, we remain on track with our long-term goal.