Balfour Beatty sustainability score: 37/100
Better than 33% of Construction / Real Estate
Making progress starts at 46. The highest score on SINK is 71.
Balfour Beatty is a UK-listed construction, infrastructure services and investment company headquartered in London. Balfour Beatty plc was incorporated in 1945.
More about Balfour Beatty
It works across construction services, support services and infrastructure investments, with about 19,290 employees and £9.5bn group revenue in 2025.
Founded 1945Head office London, UKStaff ~19,290 (2025)Revenue £9,489M Group revenue (FY2025; £10,767M including share of joint ventures and associates)Website ↗
Balfour Beatty reports carbon and waste data with third-party assurance on Scope 1 and 2, but remains 13.6% above its 2020 baseline and off track for 2030 targets. Water reporting is absent and regulatory breaches include a £200k Environment Agency settlement for silt discharges and a completed fraud case with the US military.
Balfour Beatty scores 37/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified November 2026.
That places Balfour Beatty joint 507th of 1,023 companies scored, and 27th of 40 in Construction / Real Estate.
What is Balfour Beatty doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain (8/10, 7/10). Weakest on Water Impact and Energy Source (1/10, 3/10).
Where Balfour Beatty lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Its effect on waterPublish figures for its water use.
- How clean its energy isMove to a renewable energy tariff or make a major efficiency investment.
- Its record on controversiesDeal with the findings under question 10, in public.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations8/10No verified figures published with their method and a falling trend.
- Emissions from its supply chain7/10No full value-chain map or supplier engagement programme.
- Whether its emissions are falling4/10No evidence of a year-on-year fall in its total emissions.
- How clean its energy is3/10No renewable energy tariff or major efficiency investment shown.
- Its effect on nature4/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste5/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
- Its effect on water1/10No figures for its water use.
- Its climate targets7/10Its targets aren't validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports7/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
- Its record on controversies3/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Balfour Beatty's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas Balfour Beatty's score changed?
Balfour Beatty's score has moved from 30 to 37 across 3 recorded reviews, up 7 points.
- 31 → 37+65 November 2026
Re-scored under the current method. Emissions now from Balfour Beatty's 2025 annual report: 4.13 million tonnes including all relevant Scope 3 categories, so the 0.82x size deduction applies.
- 30 → 31+130 October 2026
Correction: score 30 → 31; the published score did not follow from its own base, performance and size deduction (arithmetic error, corrected 29 October 2026).
- Scored 304 April 2026
Initial score at platform launch
What evidence is Balfour Beatty's score based on?
12 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
50% of them were published by Balfour Beatty itself; the rest come from independent sources.
6 of 12 sources are independent of the company.
“Total Scope 1 110,967 120,952 131,679 132,590 130,878 132,024”
“reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services and investments 25% within the same timeframe”
“Independent Practitioner’s Limited Assurance Report to Balfour Beatty plc”
“the Group has revised its net zero target for Scope 1* and 2* emissions to 2045, and Scope 3* to 2050, both originally set for 2040”
“Balfour Beatty has rejected them, citing concerns about their sustainability credentials”
“at the Royal Botanical Garden in Edinburgh, Balfour Beatty is trialling hydrogen as an additive, mixing it with diesel”
“Our UK nature positive targets will be overseen by our in-house ecologists”
“implementing the Construction Leadership Council’s zero avoidable waste routemap and adopting circular economy principles”
“Balfour Beatty Group Limited will contribute £200,000 to Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust following several unauthorised discharges of silt-contaminated water”
“following several unauthorised discharges of silt-contaminated water from its East Leeds Orbital Route construction site in 2020”
“pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and agreed to pay more than $65 million in fines and restitution”
“Balfour Beatty currently does not offset any Greenhouse”
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Balfour Beatty compare with other construction / real estate companies?
Where Balfour Beatty sits among construction / real estate peers.
Among the 40 major construction / real estate brands we've scored, Balfour Beatty sits 27th of 40.
Who scores higher in Construction / Real Estate?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Balfour Beatty.
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See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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