BLOG: Net Zero Routemap Annual Update - Gordon Reid

“The best thing in the last year has been how positive everyone is about delivering net zero - everyone understands why we are doing it.”

Gordon Reid
General Manager Zero Emissions, Scottish Water

Exactly a year ago, we launched our Net Zero Emissions Routemap – and today our Year 1 report card has been published. 

There is no doubt that we are already seeing the impacts of climate change. 

The need for us to act has been underlined by the significant lack of rain we have seen in Scotland this summer - coupled with a number of intense rainfall events that have led to flooding.  

But I’m pleased to say that we are making progress on a broad range of activities.  

I always say that everything we do drives emissions, so in a net zero world everything has to be different.  

Some of the things we need to work on have a bigger impact than others, and that’s where our focus lies.  

A lot of enabling activities have been completed that will allow us to progress our energy efficiency and renewables programme and change half of our fleet to electric vehicles.  

Some of the changes are smaller, like getting employees to make different choices in approaching business travel, but to borrow a phrase from a well-known supermarket, every little helps. 

One area that we’ve focussed on is working out how to transform the emissions from our construction programme, and we are getting great input on this from our construction partners who have been bringing in learning from the other sectors that they work in.  

We have been trialling some new low emission alternative materials such as a new low carbon concrete - the first time that material had been used in Scotland - and if we can adopt these then the wider Scottish construction sector will also be able to use them, helping us all to get to net zero faster. 

The best thing in the last year has been how positive everyone is about delivering net zero - everyone understands why we are doing it. The question I always get is “what does it mean for me?”.  

In the next year I will be looking to answer that for everyone in the business, letting them know when it will be happening - for some it will be soon, for others it’s a few years away as technology needs to mature. And with that will come the need to learn new skills – so a real people focus going forward.