Climate change is the biggest challenge facing the world today. We produce power which is the lifeblood of every community but its production generates significant CO2 emissions and uses precious resources.

Human activity is causing the climate to change. We believe we have a responsibility to take action.

Our intention is to provide the power which is vital to society in a way that better protects the natural environment we all depend on.

Amongst the large energy companies, EDF is the lowest carbon-emitting power producer in Europe. We will act here in the UK to strengthen the overall carbon position of the group. We shall be part of the solution and lead the way by example.

Electricity production. We will reduce CO2 emissions from our electricity production by 60% by 2020. To achieve this, we believe that the UK should maintain a diversity of generation sources. Nuclear power must be part of the energy mix to balance security of supply, climate change and energy prices. Subject to UK government policy and public acceptability we will play our part in replacing the UK’s ageing nuclear fleet over the next two decades. Additionally, we will invest in around 1,000MW of renewable electricity production – enough to power around 500,000 homes. We plan to develop new gas turbine capacity and, as one of the UK’s leading operators of coal-fired generation, we will also be involved in the development of clean coal technologies. Other business activities. We will reduce the CO2 emissions from our offices and depots and from our transport activities. We will take action to cut CO2 emissions from our offices and depots by 30% and from our transport by 20% by 2012. For our buildings, this will be achieved through a combination of energy efficiency measures and additional on-site renewable generation. For our transport, we will minimise our business travel and improve the efficiency of our fleet. Our objective is to eliminate, then counterbalance, any remaining emissions from these activities by 2020.