URB-D.02.C - Non-Renewable Energy Reduction Progress
Does the company report progress in reducing non-renewable energy consumption?
About the data
The WBA Urban Benchmark measures and ranks the world's most influential companies on their efforts to shape sustainable, inclusive and resilient urban environments, tracking how companies address essential urban needs while respecting planetary boundaries across dimensions including decent work and human rights, environmental and climate impacts, social inclusion, and sustainability leadership. The 2026 edition assessed 300 companies across four key industries shaping urban environments: real estate, construction and engineering, transport, and utilities. Companies were scored on 24 urban-specific indicators plus 18 core social indicators, spanning four measurement areas: sustainable governance, inclusive cities, healthy cities, and climate change and resilient cities. The benchmark is designed to incentivise the private sector to take adequate responsibility for its role in ensuring affordable, safe and inclusive urban environments for all. More information can be found here.
Methodology
As contributors to 80% of the world’s GDP (The World Bank, 2023), urban areas require an
uninterrupted supply of energy to function. The high concentration of economic activities in urban
areas means they are also a major consumer of the global energy supply, consuming up to 75% of
global primary energy (UN-Habitat, 2023). Achieving sustainable urban development requires
prioritising energy efficiency across all urban assets, transport infrastructures and service provision,
while also embracing the broader energy transition towards cleaner, renewable energy sources. Urban
companies should align their strategies with global decarbonisation goals and foster the adoption of
renewable energy and technologies contributing to both energy efficiency and the energy transition.
Research Guidance
The company must demonstrate monotonic, quantitative reductions or improvements in relevant topic-specific metrics over the previous three years (i.e. three years in a row with continuous year-on-year improvement). The company must demonstrate:
- Quantitative absolute or relative reductions in its non-renewable energy consumption.
- Increase in renewable energy metrics.
The company must report reduction in non-renewable energy consumption must include at least one of the following:
- Absolute reductions in non-renewable energy consumption.
- Reductions in emission intensity are accepted only if the company discloses that the reductions in emission intensity lead to absolute emission reductions.
- Relative reductions in their rate of energy consumption relative to their activity. For this indicator, this would mean that the company would need to report quantitative metrics related to their activity and their energy consumption reporting data, to obtain a rate of energy consumption.
uninterrupted supply of energy to function. The high concentration of economic activities in urban
areas means they are also a major consumer of the global energy supply, consuming up to 75% of
global primary energy (UN-Habitat, 2023). Achieving sustainable urban development requires
prioritising energy efficiency across all urban assets, transport infrastructures and service provision,
while also embracing the broader energy transition towards cleaner, renewable energy sources. Urban
companies should align their strategies with global decarbonisation goals and foster the adoption of
renewable energy and technologies contributing to both energy efficiency and the energy transition.
Research Guidance
The company must demonstrate monotonic, quantitative reductions or improvements in relevant topic-specific metrics over the previous three years (i.e. three years in a row with continuous year-on-year improvement). The company must demonstrate:
- Quantitative absolute or relative reductions in its non-renewable energy consumption.
- Increase in renewable energy metrics.
The company must report reduction in non-renewable energy consumption must include at least one of the following:
- Absolute reductions in non-renewable energy consumption.
- Reductions in emission intensity are accepted only if the company discloses that the reductions in emission intensity lead to absolute emission reductions.
- Relative reductions in their rate of energy consumption relative to their activity. For this indicator, this would mean that the company would need to report quantitative metrics related to their activity and their energy consumption reporting data, to obtain a rate of energy consumption.
License
Topics
Framework Mappings
Value Type
Category
Options
Yes
No
Assessment
Steward Assessed
Report Type
Aggregate Data Report