Centrica

Does the core business genuinely avoid or reduce emissions, or build climate resilience? Share of revenue that is actually 'green'. Fossil-dependent models score low.

The core business remains mass retail supply of fossil gas for home heating — British Gas Energy alone generates ~£13bn in revenue with roughly half attributable to gas heating — while green products (heat pumps, EV chargers) are nascent and represent a small fraction of revenue; genuine climate impact is structurally negative until the gas book shrinks.

Credible, science-based targets (SBTi), a real net-zero plan with progress to date, and CDP disclosure — not just a dated press release.

Centrica has a net-zero 2040 Scope 1/2 target (brought forward from 2045) and a 50% interim GHG reduction by 2032, with 18% achieved by 2024, but SBTi validation remains pending because SBTi lacks an oil & gas sector pathway, and Scope 3 customer emissions — roughly 90% of total — are addressed only through an intensity metric rather than an absolute reduction target, weakening ambition materially.

Operational footprint, labour and social practices, and governance quality across the company's own operations and supply chain.

Centrica has governance structures (board climate committee meeting three times a year, exec remuneration linked to climate KPIs, ISO 14001 EMS covering 79% of value-chain emissions), a just-transition commitment, and apprenticeship/green-skills programmes; however, the 2023 forced prepayment meter scandal — where vulnerable British Gas customers had meters forcibly installed — represents a serious social governance failure that significantly drags this score.

Quality of disclosure, independent third-party verification, and how much hard data backs the company's claims.

Centrica publishes full CDP Climate Change responses (Scopes 1, 2, and 3 all disclosed), a detailed TCFD-aligned report, a public Climate Transition Plan with quantified interim milestones, and key sustainability metrics are subject to independent limited assurance by DNV; however, CDP Climate score is listed as 'not disclosed' in third-party aggregators and SBTi validation is still absent, limiting the top-tier transparency rating.

Controversies, litigation, pollution, fossil-fuel lobbying, conflict-zone involvement and governance scandals. Higher means cleaner.

In early 2023 a Times newspaper undercover investigation exposed British Gas contractors forcing prepayment meters onto vulnerable and indebted customers, triggering a self-imposed suspension, an Ofgem review, significant reputational damage, and political scrutiny; combined with ongoing North Sea upstream gas production and a history of profiteering accusations during the 2022–23 energy crisis, material integrity concerns are well-documented.