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Climate action in progress at more than 10,000 schools

Climate and sustainability experts have helped more than 10,000 schools, nurseries and other education settings to take climate action.  

In total, 10,725 schools have signed up to receive support from various Department for Education-funded sustainability programmes, including the Climate Ambassadors programme, founded at the University of Reading and co-led with EAUC.  

To mark the success of Climate Ambassadors over the past two years, co-leads Professor Andrew Charlton-Perez (University of Reading) and Charlotte Bonner (EAUC) made visits to education settings where they have a deep, personal connection to help develop climate action plans.  

Andrew returned to his old secondary school, Thomas Clarkson Academy, Wisbech and Charlotte returned to Green Hedges Day Nursery, Scarborough, which her daughter Molly attended.  

Professor Andrew Charlton-Perez said: “Coming back to my old school as a climate scientist rather than a student was just brilliant. My love of the natural world and understanding how it works started here at Thomas Clarkson. Seeing young people have the same passion to make a difference to the world and their own community is hugely inspiring. By taking some of the positive steps we outlined today, teacher and young people in the school can work together to address climate change.  

We’re not just teaching about climate change—we’re creating the leaders who will solve it.” 

Charlotte Bonner said: “I loved being part the community at Green Hedges, and to be able to help them develop a simple but effective climate action plan was a real joy. Climate Action Plans can be developed by all education settings, from nurseries through to colleges with free support on offer to help them no matter their starting point. Climate Ambassadors all throughout England are ready to help settings – so take the opportunity to get in touch with us today and get started on taking climate action.” 

More than 1,000 experts have now signed up to become Climate Ambassadors and deliver support for classrooms across the country. 

During his visit, Andrew and colleagues from the Climate Ambassadors and Department for Education worked with 40 young people from the Thomas Clarkson and Wisbech Academies to write draft Climate Action Plans for each setting. All of the ideas for how to take action came from the young people. At the end of the visit he spoke with the Headteacher Matt Dobbing about how these plans can be put into operation. As this happens over the next year, he will continue to support the school with future visits planned. 

During her visit, Charlotte worked with members of nursery staff to understand areas where they might make practical changes to their building to reduce energy use and save money. They also discussed ways in which the outside space at Green Hedges could be managed to support outdoor learning and greater connection to nature for young people. 

About climate action plans

As part of the government’s sustainability and climate change strategy, all education settings have been asked to produce climate action plans that will help reduce their community’s environmental impact. The schools and nurseries that have already engaged with the Climate Ambassadors scheme have been supported to develop simple but effective solutions to improve biodiversity, reduce their carbon footprint, improve climate education for young people and better prepare for the kind of extreme weather experienced in England over the summer.  Andrew and Charlotte’s visits complimented many taking place across the country last week (15-19 September) from staff working on programmes commissioned or supported as part of the Department for Education Sustainability and Climate Change strategy, which consists of:

National Education Nature Park

Sustainability Support for Education

Climate Ambassadors in partnership with

Let’s Go Zero Climate Action Advisers

The free resources from these four programmes can be used together to support settings with the development of their Climate Action Plans. 

Minister became Climate Ambassador number 1,000

The previous Minister for Early Years, Stephen Morgan MP, who led on sustainability at the Department for Education until September 2025 became the UK’s 1,000^th Climate Ambassador.

Minister Morgan said: “The Climate Ambassadors programme is a vital part of our strategy to empower schools and educators in tackling the climate crisis, and I’m proud to be joining over 1,000 volunteers to support schools in developing and delivering their climate action plans.”