United Utilities sustainability score: 47/100

2025/26 gross Scope 1+2 of 539,041 tCO2e: fossil fuel 19,825, process and fugitive 329,721, fleet 18,724, Scope 2 market-based 170,771. Five years disclosed. Verified by Achilles under ISO 14064-1. Like-for-like market-based total rose from 124,418 to 299,543 tCO2e; trend is upward.

2025/26 Scope 3 total 590,950 tCO2e across categories 1–7 and 11. Purchased goods and services 372,701 (chemicals 47,144), capital goods 132,557, fuel and energy WTT/T&D 57,844, waste disposal 14,308. Categories 1–2 use OpenCEDA spend-based estimates lacking supplier-specific data.

Like-for-like market-based Scope 1+2 rose from 124,418 to 299,543 tCO2e (2024/25 to 2025/26). Location-based Scope 1+2 fell 13% below 2019/20 baseline, but Scope 3 rose from 435,343 to 533,078 tCO2e. Total emissions rising; Scope 3 trajectory red.

Total energy 1,058 GWh. On-site biogas CHP, solar, wind, hydro met 24.1%. Purchased grid electricity on standard tariff in 2025/26; dropped 680.1 GWh REGO-backed renewable from 2024/25. 164 GWh self-generated. Refreshed SBT now uses location-based Scope 2 accounting.

56,000 ha owned land, 22,500 ha SSSI. Pledges: 7,000 ha peatland restoration, one million trees, 1,800 km river, 30% land for nature by 2030. 2025/26: 1,245 ha peatland (63% of 2030 target), 142 ha woodland. Multiple TNFD metrics marked 'not measured'. Wastewater discharges affect aquatic ecosystems.

All sewage sludge treated, recycled to agricultural land under Biosolids Assurance Scheme. Anaerobic digestion produces 47.2 GWh biomethane exported to grid. TNFD reports water recycling 'not measured'. No quantified operational or construction waste diversion. Steel and cement flagged high-risk commodities without circularity targets.

Environment Agency downgraded to 2 stars ('requires improvement') from 4 in 2023. 347 sewerage pollution incidents (45 per 10,000 km, rated red). 98.2% numeric permit compliance (amber). Company KPI 42.15 incidents per 10,000 km against 18.63 target. Spills fell to 26.80 from 45.43; leakage down 9.4%.

SBTi near-term: 42% absolute Scope 1+2 cut by 2030; 25% Scope 3 (excl. capital goods). Net-zero 2050 validated 2024, revalidated v1.3. Only two of four original targets met. Scope 3 at +36.8% versus 25% reduction target. Refresh to location-based Scope 2 in year renewable purchasing fell to near zero.

Integrated Annual Report 2026 includes TCFD and TNFD disclosures, board ESG committee oversight, third-party GHG verification (Achilles), CC-BY open datasets. Senior leaders' and executives' long-term incentive plans include 10% carbon measure since 2022. Annual bonus linked to pollution and spill metrics.

EA rated 2 stars for 2024. June 2026: £517k enforcement undertaking for River Tame sewage discharge breaches. Regional press reports £1M fine for raw sewage discharge in Lancashire. Allegations of illegal Windermere discharges. Steve Coogan accused company of greenwashing. Competition Appeal Tribunal claim for misleading regulatory reporting awaits Supreme Court permission.