Better Health for All

Drax's Amite BioEnergy plant in Mississippi was fined $2.5 million in 2021 for exceeding air quality emission limits

and received additional warnings in 2023 for further violations . Residents reported deteriorating air quality and health issues, including respiratory problems and skin rashes, since the plant's operation began in 2016 . The company canceled multiple meetings with Gloster residents who sought to address these pollution concerns, leading to a lack of dialogue . In December 2023, Drax donated £50,000 to Movember for men's health . The company's core business does not involve health-related products or services, nor does it conduct clinical trials or manage health data.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Drax Group PLC operates in the renewable energy sector and does not directly engage in financial services such as lending, insurance, or money management.

The 'Fair Money & Economic Opportunity' value and its associated KPIs are specifically designed to assess financial institutions based on their provision of financial products and services. While Drax engages in corporate social responsibility initiatives, including charitable donations to support STEM education and address fuel poverty, and offers an employee Sharesave program with financial education, these activities do not provide the specific data points required by the rubric's KPIs, such as percentages of underserved financial services customers, share of a loan book, average APRs, or financial service access points. Therefore, no KPIs can be scored based on the provided evidence.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

Drax Group PLC reported a Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of 0.38 per 100,000 hours worked in 2023, an improvement from 0.44 in 2022.

The company achieved a median gender pay gap of 0% in 2023. Its annual MyVoice Survey in 2023 showed an employee engagement score of 79%. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) dropped its prosecution case against Drax in 2023, and there are no other substantiated labor-law or human-rights violations reported in the past three years.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

In 2024, 98.6% of the woody biomass sourced by Drax was Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) compliant.

The company requires all suppliers to achieve Chain of Custody certification before contracts are signed and has a Supplier Code of Conduct. Drax conducts regional and country risk assessments. An independent external audit of profiling data from its international supply chain for the period April 2023 to March 2024 will be commissioned. Ofgem fined Drax £25 million for inadequate data regarding the sustainability of wood imported in 2021 and 2022, leading Drax to re-report its 2021-2022 annual profiling submission. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is investigating Drax's biomass sourcing disclosures made between January 2022 and March 2024. Allegations include misleading investors and the government over the sustainability of wood sources, and sourcing from natural woodland and old-growth forests. Drax's Biomass Tracker provides data on countries and states of origin, fibre types, transportation, carbon emissions, and sustainability certification standards.

Honest & Fair Business

Drax Group PLC has faced significant ethical challenges, including documented retaliation against a whistleblower.

Rowaa Ahmar, Head of Public Affairs & Policy, raised concerns about the company misleading the government on biomass sourcing and was subsequently sidelined, offered money to leave, placed on indefinite leave, and dismissed. The company has incurred substantial regulatory fines totaling $41.27 million in the past three years, including a £25 million fine from Ofgem in August 2024 for misreporting biomass sourcing data and a £6.1 million fine in January 2023 for breaching its license by charging excessive prices. Drax also agreed to re-report its CP20 annual profiling submission for biomass sourcing data. The company faces multiple public scandals and misleading claims, notably a BBC Panorama documentary revealing the harvesting of trees from old-growth and primary forests, contrary to claims. This led to an Ofgem fine for misreporting and a whistleblower's warning that the Sustainable Biomass Program process was "fact free," indicating misleading statements about compliance and ethics despite third-party verification. On a positive note, Drax demonstrates strong audit coverage, with 98% of its supply chain covered by independent external audit.

Kind to Animals

Drax Group PLC operates in the renewable energy sector, primarily biomass power generation. The provided articles do not contain specific, quantifiable evidence relevant to most 'Kind to Animals' KPIs, which typically address animal testing, animal-derived products, or animal agriculture. While Drax invested $4.5 million in community and environmental initiatives in 2024

, including $50,000 for bird habitat protection and restoration of up to ten acres of priority habitat , and $4,000 for an eagle's nest camera , the rubric's quantitative thresholds for wildlife conservation impact are based on a percentage of revenue, which is not provided. Investigations in March 2024 revealed Drax's sourcing of wood pellets from clear-cut areas in a Portuguese nature reserve , threatening habitats of various species . A 2024 study linked plant emissions to potential negative effects on nearby wildlife ecosystems . Concerns were also raised in 2021 and 2022 regarding forest degradation and impacts on wildlife habitats due to biomass sourcing and acquisitions , . However, without specific data points that align with the rubric's quantitative thresholds, no KPIs can be scored.

No War, No Weapons

Drax Group PLC has no involvement in military contracts, arms manufacturing, or any weapons-related activities, consistently focusing on civilian-oriented renewable energy solutions.

The company's operations are devoid of military involvement. There are no defense assets to divest, nor is there any exposure to controversial weapons. However, no specific peace-building initiatives or public advocacy against militarization have been identified.

Planet-Friendly Business

Drax Group PLC has a significant record of environmental compliance violations, with over 11,000 recorded across its U.S. facilities from 2014 to 2024

, and 189 violations in Canada since 2012 . These include exceeding pollutant limits , pollution of rivers , and destruction of wetlands , leading to fines such as $225,000 in Mississippi in 2024 , $2.5 million in Mississippi in 2020 , and a $3.2 million settlement in Louisiana in 2022 . The company's carbon reduction targets were validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2023 , aligning with a 1.5°C pathway . Drax aims to reach net zero in scopes 1, 2, and 3 by the end of 2040 , with near-term 2030 SBTi targets covering all scopes . While Drax states its approach is in line with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework , specific disclosures are not detailed. The company has a formal policy to be deforestation, degradation, and conversion free , utilizing various forest certification programs . However, in 2024, Drax was fined £25 million by Ofgem for data governance failures and lacking adequate sustainability data for imported wood , indicating issues with the verified implementation of its deforestation policy .

Respect for Cultures & Communities

The provided articles detail Drax Group PLC's charitable giving and community engagement efforts, including over $4.6 million in donations to support communities globally in 2024, with specific allocations to Canadian organizations and Indigenous communities

. The company also established a $250,000 Community Fund and a Community Advisory Panel in Gloster, Mississippi , and donated £3.6 million to charitable causes in 2024 . However, the evidence does not contain the specific quantitative data points required by the rubric's KPIs, such as percentages of revenue reinvested, local employment ratios, numbers of formal partnership agreements, or details on cultural impact assessments or grievance mechanisms. Therefore, no KPIs can be scored based on the provided information.

Safe & Smart Tech

In August 2024, Drax agreed to pay a £25 million penalty for a data-reporting breach

, despite having worked towards GDPR compliance since before 2018 and maintaining information and security management systems aligned with industry standards . The company has a Business Ethics and Privacy team and is developing ethical AI frameworks to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability , proactively addressing biases and ethical considerations . Drax implemented a Data Subject Requests Automation module to handle various data subject requests . In 2023, Drax reported no incidents requiring authority notification regarding potential data breaches . The company also introduced annual refresher training on data protection and provides dedicated training on data sharing boundaries . Drax has invested in advanced cybersecurity measures by partnering with Darktrace to enhance the security of its IT and operational technology environments and conducts regular risk assessments and phishing tests .

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

Drax's Mississippi wood pellet production operation was fined US$2.5 million in November 2020 for breaching US air pollution limits.

This indicates poor hazardous waste management and a significant waste disposal violation. Despite this, the company has implemented several waste reduction initiatives, including trialing biomass energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). Drax is also investing £1 million in wingsails to reduce shipping emissions by up to 30% annually. Drax is partnering to develop the world's first biomass-fueled ship. Drax also integrates circular design principles by converting captured CO₂ from biomass power into sustainable plastics and transforming CO₂ emissions into protein for animal feed through two distinct projects. The company has ambitious waste reduction targets, aiming to become "carbon negative" by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions across its value chain by 2040. Furthermore, Drax has comprehensive waste program requirements for its suppliers, with 100% of its biomass certified by the Sustainable Biomass Partnership and independently monitored by schemes like FSC, SFI, and PEFC, explicitly excluding material from primary and old-growth forests.