Kier has been recognised as one of Europe’s top-performing organisations on climate action, achieving a major rise in the Financial Times European Climate Leaders 2026 ranking.
Kier is ranked first in the Construction & Building Materials sector across Europe and is the third highest-ranked UK business in the index placing 13th overall out of 600 European companies on the list.
The list highlights the companies making progress in cutting greenhouse gas emissions from their core operations, showing businesses that have achieved the greatest reduction in scope one and two emissions.
Kier has featured on the list in previous years, but this higher placement is reflective of the progress made by the group in reducing its carbon impact, in line with its Building for a Sustainable World strategy. Kier has risen from sixth to first in sector on last year’s list, as well as rising from 27th in the UK and 120th overall.
Recent progress has been driven by a combination of short and long-term measures including sustainable hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) procurement supporting immediate emissions reductions, replacing diesel across site operations, while electrification of the fleet and company car base represents a longer-term transition towards net zero. Kier has also achieved a CDP A rating this year, the highest score available, across both climate and supplier engagement, and has had its near-term and net-zero targets validated by the UN-backed Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for several years.
Tracey Collins, sustainability director at Kier, said:
This recognition reflects the focus and pace at which we are improving sustainability across our operations. While we’ve made significant strides, we remain committed to accelerating progress as we deliver our long-term Building for a Sustainable World strategy – which is embedded into our operations as a business. We aim to leave a lasting legacy in the communities in which we operate, and environmental sustainability will remain an important cornerstone of this work.