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Britain's major energy companies are making little progress on making their business models greener, a report claims.

Environmental group WWF has published its third annual report prepared by consultancy firm Innovest on green benchmarks among the six biggest energy firms in Britain.

It claims UK energy companies need to "decarbonise completely" by 2050 if Britain is to achieve its carbon emissions reduction targets and says the progress shown so far is frustrating.

The report singled out RWE npower and EDF Energy as making the least progress on issues like adopting greener business models and the EU's emissions trading scheme.

Scottish Power and Centrica fared better, however, but WWF'UK's head of climate change Keith Allott said only a combination of their strategies would reflect "a real leader pushing towards a greener and efficient power sector".

"What is clear… is that none of the companies are yet showing the vision we need to protect the climate," he said.

"The power sector's emissions have been rising in recent years, and many companies are focussing on building new fossil fuel or nuclear stations rather than providing efficient energy services and clean renewable energy."

None of the companies committed to building more nuclear power stations or scored highly on emission reduction, leading Mr Allott to conclude that many were overplaying the extent of their commitment to the environment.

"Many of these power companies are spending lots of money advertising their 'green' credentials, but they need to demonstrate that climate change is not simply a public relations exercise," he added.

RWE npower, which was adjudged the worst of the six energy firms studied in the report, said it would reduce its CO2 "intensity" by half between 1990 and 2020 in line with WWF's requirements.

It said it had made "extraordinary efforts" to cut its CO2 emissions, citing its wind farm projects and energy-saving partnership with the National Trust as examples of its efforts.

"We are disappointed that our investments in renewables and efficiency improvements at our existing stations have not been recognised by the assessment," the statement added.