Severn Trent Plc owns Severn Trent Water, the regulated water and sewerage company for the Midlands and parts of Wales.
Is this your business? Add your evidence →
Severn Trent's 2025/26 Scope 1 emissions were 384,205 tCO2e under a company-revised method for process emissions; under the industry-standard method they would be 526,222 tCO2e, and its assurer flagged an elevated reporting risk on the change. Imported electricity is backed by renewable certificates, giving market-based Scope 2 of 292 tCO2e. Scope 3 was 697,345 tCO2e, up from 506,562 in 2019/20. The Environment Agency rated it 4 stars for 2024, the only company of nine, and it had two serious pollution incidents in 2025. In February 2024 it was fined £2,072,000 for a reckless discharge of raw sewage into the River Trent, and in July 2026 Ofwat found serious and unacceptable breaches of its wastewater duties but imposed no fine. SBTi validated its near-term target of a 46% cut in Scope 1 and 2 by 2031.
Severn Trent scores 50/100 (Making progress) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Fees pay for the review, never the result. Last verified October 2026.
That places Severn Trent joint 149th of 847 companies scored, and 1st of 11 in Water & Sewerage.
Severn Trent is the highest-scoring water & sewerage company we've rated.
Among the 11 major water & sewerage brands we've scored, Severn Trent sits 1st of 11.
Its three lowest-scoring questions, and what the evidence didn't show.
Market-based Scope 1+2 fell 27% to 384,496 tCO2e, but CAW basis shows flat performance.
No waste-to-landfill tonnage targets, diversion rates, or material-circularity metrics disclosed.
Environment Agency 4-star rating (only company of nine).
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Evidence that isn't public can count through an evidence review.
Use this score in tenders
Send the link, or the one-page score sheet. It links back to this page and every source. Free.
Open the score sheet →Add your evidence, £99
Scored low because little is published? Send us your evidence. A person reviews it and your score reflects what you really do. Done within 5 working days.
Evidence review →Go tender-ready, £495 a year
A yearly rescore, a check of up to 25 key suppliers and a score badge for your website (coming soon).
Get in touch →Strongest on Carbon Footprint — Operations and Transparency & Accountability (8/10, 8/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Resource Use & Waste (4/10, 4/10).
Severn Trent leads its sector. These are the next 3 down.
Pennon group Scope 1 and 2 emissions, assured by Jacobs, fell about 4% in 2025/26, mainly because more renewable electricity was bought for the Bristol Water region, and South West Water's electricity is backed by renewable energy certificates.
See the breakdown →United Utilities' 2025/26 market-based Scope 1 and 2 emissions were 539,041 tCO2e, including 239,498 tCO2e added by a 2026 industry update to process-emission factors.
See the breakdown →Scottish Water's operational emissions, audited to ISO 14064-1, fell from 462,000 tCO2e in 2006/07 to 220,000 tCO2e in 2024/25, and have been roughly flat for three years.
See the breakdown →Severn Trent's score has moved from 40 to 50 across 2 recorded reviews, up 10 points.
Moved from Energy Supply / Utilities to the new Water & Sewerage sector (base 40) under methodology v2.5.12: 40 → 50.
Initial public score 40 (publish-draft)
The formula and all 10 sources.
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × Scale10 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
Re-scored 40 → 50 in October 2026 after moving from Energy Supply / Utilities to the new Water & Sewerage sector (base 40) under methodology v2.5.12.
“Jacobs, was engaged to perform independent limited assurance in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements on greenhouse gas statements”
“We want to bring our supply chain with us on the same journey.”
“only company (out of 9) rated as industry leading (4 stars)”
“Severn Trent is set to more than double its biodiversity targets by helping to transform 11,000ha of land”
“Severn Trent Water has been ordered to pay a fine of £2,072,000 for allowing huge amounts of raw sewage to discharge into the River Trent”
“Our investigation found serious and unacceptable breaches by Severn Trent Water”
“finding that Severn Trent had made 494 suspected illegal spills of sewage in 2021 and 309 in 2022”
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
Severn Trent Plc owns Severn Trent Water, the regulated water and sewerage company for the Midlands and parts of Wales. It was incorporated in 1989 and its registered office is in Coventry. Its filed accounts for the year to 31 March 2026 report revenue of £2,831m and an average of 10,860 employees. It is regulated by Ofwat and the Environment Agency.
One email, every Sunday. Score changes, new research, the stories behind the numbers. Free.
No spam. Unsubscribe in one click.
Checking a company?
Search free →Asked to prove you're sustainable?
Get your business scored, free →Been scored?
See what's behind your number →Fees pay for the review, never the result.