Water firm gets tough on warming

Water quality improvements blamed for poor performance

An east of England water company is to score its suppliers on their commitment to cutting carbon emissions in a bid to avoid penalties itself.

Anglian Water has set a deadline of 31 March 2009 for supplier companies to demonstrate they are committed to the fight against climate change.

The firm invited them to a summit to warn that scores would be important.

The water firm is getting tough because it could face £10m in penalties for carbon emissions by 2010.

Supplied goods and services account for 60% of Anglian Water's costs.

Reverse trends

The companies involved were told that they will have to show they had adapted their activities to mitigate climate change.

Anglian Water said it had pledged to bring about change in its own poor carbon emission performance at the Prince of Wales' May Day Summit on Climate Change in May last year.

Chief executive Jonson Cox told the meeting that tighter standards in improving water quality and waste water treatment had doubled Anglian water's carbon footprint over the past 15 years.

"We must find clever ways of reversing the trend. We will help our suppliers understand their carbon footprint and in doing so we will ask them to help us reduce our levels."

Anglian Water wants to reduce its carbon footprint by 60% by 2050, cut energy use by 9% by 2010 and increase energy from its own renewable resources by 20%.