Climate change
Kelda takes climate change very seriously. We are taking steps to both minimise our contribution to climate change by reducing our emissions (mitigation), and taking steps to prepare for a changing climate and build our resilience to future extremes of weather (adaptation).
The UK is leading the way in global efforts to combat climate change and in 2008 passed the Climate Change Act. This introduced the first legally binding targets to reduce national carbon emissions and also prepared the way for a programme of activity to help adapt our economy, society and environment to a changing climate.
The Climate Change Act enables regulations that require large energy users to report their emissions and also required critical infrastructure providers to report on what risks they face from a changing climate and what steps they are taking to manage these risks.
To find out more about what we do for the environment please visit our Yorkshire Water website
Carbon & energy
We’re looking to trim our carbon footprint down to size and we’re working hard to deliver energy efficiencies.
Carbon management and energy efficiency is important to Kelda because treating water and waste water is very energy intensive. Kelda Water Services is contributing to efforts to reduce the Kelda Group carbon footprint by seeking out opportunities to develop renewable energy options across the UK, including anaerobic digestion, wind and hydro generation projects.
Yorkshire Water is responsible for the vast majority of Kelda Group's emissions. Making sure we deliver high quality drinking water to customers and return clean wastewater to the environment uses a lot of energy which results in substantial amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.
To find out more about what we do for the environment please visit our Yorkshire Water website
Here you will be able to read about Yorkshire Water's energy efficiency and renewable generation work, and find out how we publicly report our carbon footprint.
Biodiversity & land management
The Kelda Group has a responsibility to protect and enhance biodiversity for future generations. Biodiversity simply means the number of species of plants and animals occurring in one place. In general, high biodiversity indicates a healthy system that is undisturbed, that efficiently recycled water, oxygen and carbon, and that contains a thriving community of species.
In the Yorkshire region alone the Kelda Group owns approximately 28000 hectares of land. 12000 hectares of this are designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and it includes 17 nature reserves.
Read more about Yorkshire Water's flagship site at Tophill Low near Driffield.
Our land in Yorkshire also includes 35 UK priority habitats of national or international importance for conservation, including the largest area of lowland raised peat in England, 52% of the UK's limestone pavement and 28% of the UK's upland heathland.