Easier, Fairer, Greener: Our roadmap to creating a positive social impact

Cadent has today, 30 March, launched its first Social Impact Strategy.

Our social impact strategy sets out our ambitions for how we will work to make life easier, fairer, and greener for the communities across the Networks in which we operate.

Cadent estimates that nearly two million of our customers are living in fuel poverty and choosing between heating and eating. Cadent is committed to playing our part in helping people across our communities to avoid the choice between heating and eating.

We want to create a diverse workforce, which represents the communities we serve. The strategy focuses on the way Cadent and the businesses we work with will work to create education, skills, and employment opportunities for people living across our networks, regardless of their background, economic situation, employment history, or current skill set.

As we prepare to decarbonise our Networks using Hydrogen, the strategy outlines Cadent commitments to reducing emissions, enhancing biodiversity, making the most of opportunities to reduce, reuse and repurpose the resources we use across our business operations and supporting our staff to make greener choices.

Our social impact strategy outlines the key areas in which we will focus our efforts to keep people warm and protect the plant.

Easier Warmth

• By 2026, we will reach 1 million people with interventions that can improve affordability of home heating.
• By 2030, we will ensure that 50% of households know the option of hydrogen home heating – with over half of these located in the most disadvantaged areas of our network.

Fairer Opportunities

• By 2026, we will ensure that Cadent and 100% of our local delivery partners, deliver best practice standards on Equality, Diversity & inclusion, and fair pay.
• By 2030, we will inspire 100,000 people from underrepresented and disadvantaged groups to gain access to career opportunities in the energy sector.

Greener Society

• By 2035, we will demonstrate hydrogen at scale through a range of initiatives.
• By 2030, we will reduce methane emissions by significantly more than 30% (as per the UK target).
• By 2026, we will be accredited to The Wildlife Trust Biodiversity Benchmark across all our key sites.

Mark Belmega, Director of Sustainability and Social Purpose said: Alongside keeping the gas flowing safely and reliably across our networks, creating a positive social impact through our business operations and being a force for good is increasingly important.

We have set ambitious goals for the ways we will create easier warmth, fairer opportunities, and greener society through our actions. To help achieve this we will all need to take responsibility and work together to shape the future.

While we’re deeply rooted in the local communities we serve, we know that our actions can contribute to wider societal goals. Our Social Impact strategy demonstrates how our activities and the outcomes we plan to deliver align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Read more in our full report here