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Severn Trent has been ranked first in a league table that measures the environmental, social and ethical performance of the FTSE 100.

The Midlands-based water and waste company has claimed top spot, beating household names across the banking, retail and utility sector, as part of the Tortoise Responsibility100 Index.  

The index examines how much FTSE 100 companies are doing to ensure a safe, fair and sustainable world, ranking them on their ability to ‘walk the talk’ – or doing what they say they would.  

This recognition follows the recent publication of Severn Trent’s ‘Caring for our Environment’ report, which details the company’s environmental ambitions and commitments, including plans to plant over one million trees, reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030 and produce an extra 95 million litres of water to tackle the threat of water scarcity, using low carbon methods. 

Liv Garfield, Severn Trent CEO, said: “As the spotlight falls on the UK in the run-up to COP26, it’s important for UK Business to demonstrate leadership on so many of the important issues the Responsibility Index highlights.  

“I’m delighted that Severn Trent has been recognised as a leader on its journey to becoming a truly socially responsible business and congratulate every other organisation that is showing positive progress in this space.”

The ranking uses measures that deliver on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with each company’s score calculated from publicly available data across more than 200 sources.

Scores are comprised of 17 individual targets spanning a wide range of topics from poverty and inequality to climate change and biodiversity.