ABCDs of climate action

The adaptation and resilience pillar is all about auditing and identifying how your education setting currently experiences the impacts of climate change, as well as researching known climate risks in your local area and planning for likely future events.

Some elements of adaptation and resilience to consider might be:

• Drought and water scarcity
• Overheating and shading
• Flooding and water drainage within the estate grounds
• Extreme weather such as cold, snow, storms, etc

Some popular adaptation and resilience actions so far have been:

• Conducting flood risk assessments and updating emergency plans
• Developing drought-resistant landscaping to conserve water
• Installing air quality monitors around school grounds
• Training Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) on climate-related domestic risks (e.g., fuel poverty)
• Analysing climate impacts on vulnerable groups

The biodiversity and nature pillar is all about protecting and enhancing the green spaces and biodiversity on your setting’s grounds. Your learners might particularly enjoy and benefit from opportunities to interact with the green spaces accessible to them.

Some popular actions so far have been:

• Engaging with the National Education Nature Park citizen science programme and embedding it across the curriculum
• Creating wildlife corridors (e.g., hedgerows, ponds) in school grounds
• Planting native trees to welcome more wildlife
• Running a student voice survey to learn which plants (vegetables, herbs, fruit trees) your student might like to grow

The climate education and green skills pillar speaks to the growing need to embed climate meaningfully across the curriculum, and to ensure that your learners have the opportunity to interact and familiarise themselves with green skills and careers available to them.

Some popular actions from this pillar have been:  

• Setting up a “green skills” after-school club (e.g., gardening, repair workshops)
• Partnering with local green employers for career workshops
• Inviting sustainability professionals for talks (e.g. requesting Climate Ambassadors via STEM Learning)

The decarbonisation and net zero pillar centres around the need to minimise carbon dioxide emissions from the education estate operations, and actively planning towards reaching net zero. As the combined education estate is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions within the public sector, net zero is one of the key goals within the estate management standards.

Some popular actions from this pillar have been:

• Installing solar panels and smart energy meters
• Launching energy-saving campaigns with pupil energy monitors
• Establishing a school “swap shop” for reusable uniforms/equipment
• Introducing meat-free days in school meals to reduce carbon footprint

Climate action planning is being driven by a number of Department for Education strategies. For more information, you can consult:

• Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy
• Education Estates Strategy
• Sustainability leadership and climate action plans in education