What is BT’s Progress on its Climate Transition Plan?

BT has driven environmental action for more than three decades, tracking its carbon emissions since 1992.

In 2025, it published its Climate Transition Plan, outlining its sustainability strategy to reduce its emissions and manage climate-related risks.

BT has released its FY26 results, reporting on its progress during the fiscal year.

BT’s Climate Transition Plan

BT has set a target to reach net zero operations by the end of March 2031 and net zero across its value chain by the end of March 2041, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Since 2017, BT has achieved a 61% reduction in operational emissions and a 33% reduction in supply chain emissions.

In FY26, its global energy consumption fell by approximately 226 GWh, which is a 9% reduction from FY25.

It has supported growth in renewable energy supply through long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).

PPAs accounted for 34% of BT’s UK electricity demand in FY26, with the company continuing to explore opportunities to generate electricity itself.

BT has switched its vehicle fleet to electric vehicles (EVs), helping to reduce air pollutants and cut its emissions.

It has increased the total number of EVs in its fleet to 7,900, representing 29% of its total fleet.

Matt Manning, Head of Sustainability at BT Group, announced the company’s results on LinkedIn: “Proud to update on the progress BT Group has made during FY26 towards becoming a net zero and circular business, supporting resilience for the nation.

“Credit to all the teams across the business who helped deliver this progress and my team for crunching the numbers.

“Being a sustainable and responsible business is more than just ‘being good’. It makes commercial sense, it reduces risks, it builds resilience and it future-proofs the business.”

Circular technology

BT is advancing towards a circular business model by 2030 and a circular tech and telco ecosystem by 2040.

It encourages its customers to return its products after use, offering a free service to return routers.

In FY26, it collected nearly 136,000 mobile devices through trade-in services, with 91% of them going to reuse and a second life.

It also offers services to extend the life of devices, with its EE repair service fixing nearly 53,000 devices in FY26.

BT continued to focus on sustainable design during the year, using 95% recycled plastic in the casing of its newest hub, the Smart Hub 3.5.

It also uses plastic-free and fully recyclable packaging for its products.

The financial impact of BT’s sustainable technology has been growing, with its carbon-saving products generating £6.5bn (US$8.6bn) in revenue in FY26.

BT’s networks and products have helped its customers avoid more than 10 million tonnes of carbon since 2021.

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Ecological partnerships for biodiversity

To mitigate its environmental footprint, BT has integrated nature conservation into its operations and public sector contracts.

It has partnered with The Wildlife Trust to drive nature restoration through targeted funding and employee volunteering.

BT Openreach has partnered with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to protect wildlife during its full fibre build.

Under this partnership, engineers use volunteering hours to deploy nesting structures.

The project has allowed 87 nest boxes to be installed on local properties for red-listed species, including pipistrelle bats, house martins, swifts and sparrows.

The company has planted multiple wildflower meadows across its estate, helping to support local ecosystems.