Severn Trent to spend £1.2bn on environment pledges

Projects include planting 1.3 million trees to both improve the environment and to help reduce flooding.

It comes after many homes and businesses were wrecked by damage and disruption brought by recent flooding along the River Severn.

And the firm claims it will support 195,000 customers each year who struggle to pay their bills.

Severn Trent has revealed a series of pledges and schemes to help sustainability and support customers and communities.

The commitments include improving biodiversity in 5,000 hectares of land by 2027.

Severn Trent is also promising to deliver on its 'Triple Carbon Pledge' of net zero emissions, 100 per cent energy from renewable sources and a 100 per cent electric vehicle fleet by 2030.

It will also aim to work with two-thirds of farmers in its region to adopt nature-based solutions to reduce pollutants which will help water quality.

It is creating the Severn Trent Community Fund, which will donate more than £10 million over the next five years to projects in communities.

Severn Trent's chief executive, Liv Garfield, said: “To truly make a difference we need to look after nature and the precious resources it provides, we need the most talented and engaged minds helping us drive performance, and we need customers who trust us to do the right thing for their communities.

“By committing to invest £1.2bon in the next five years, we believe we can make a real difference to the environment and to the people we serve.”

Severn Trent is the UK’s second biggest water company and serves 4.5m homes and business customers in and around the Midlands.

The company delivers almost two billion litres of water every day through 46,000km of pipes. A further 94,000km of sewer pipes take waste water away to almost 1,000 sewage treatment works.