One of the key takeaways from the Department for Education’s recent Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy (DfE, 2023) is that the government would like all education settings to have nominated a sustainability lead and a climate action plan in place by September this year.
It is not a strict deadline, but it is meant to inspire and encourage progress (see DfE, 2025). The DfE’s strategy focuses on four key areas:
- Decarbonisation: Reducing emissions from school buildings and involving pupils in the transition to net zero.
- Climate education: Preparing pupils for a world affected by climate change through learning and practical experience.
- Resilience: Focusing on adapting school buildings, grounds and processes for the impacts of climate change – such as overheating or flooding.
- Nature: Improving the environment and enhancing biodiversity, improving air quality, and increasing access to nature in schools.
As one of 32 climate action advisors with Let’s Go Zero, a zero carbon schools campaign run by charity Ashden, my work involves helping schools in addressing these four areas in order to create bespoke climate action plans that save money, reduce carbon emissions, and improve the school environment.
Many schools wonder where they can begin – and even if they can afford to make meaningful changes. The answer is yes – there are so many examples of schools I have worked with which make significant progress in sustainability and which serve as inspiration and you can do the same.
Sustainability is a huge topic, best seen as a thread running through areas like energy, food, travel, biodiversity, adaptation, procurement, curriculum, and much more, and there are a wide variety of initiatives and resources out there to help. Many of these can be accessed through the Let’s Go Zero Coalition and wider network and our team of climate action advisors assists schools in navigating who can support you with what (for more on Let’s Go Zero, see later). Here are some pointers and practical tips for how to get started with meeting the DfE requirements.
Establish a sustainability team
An important first step is to create a sustainability team with a mixture of operational and educational staff. Sustainability spans too many areas and is too long-term to be tackled by one person, and a whole-setting approach is vital.
As a minimum, the core sustainability team should have a member of the senior leadership team, the site manager, business manager and a teacher. But depending on your setting you could include a forest school lead, curriculum lead, governor, or an eco-council or PTA member – anyone who would be responsible for delivering key actions identified in your plan.
The whole team should be included in the plan’s development and delivery and should be clear on their roles and responsibilities. If you are in a multi-academy trust, consider bringing your schools together to share experiences and knowledge.
The nominated sustainability lead (supported by the senior leadership team) should have the overarching responsibility for driving the sustainability team forward in delivering their plans. Aim to meet every four to six weeks to discuss, track and evaluate progress – using the climate action plan as a live document during these meetings.
Delivering action doesn’t stop with this team either – the best plans involve the whole school community, utilising support and expertise from the pupil body, their families, and local organisations too.
Focusing on positive examples really helps with engagement and motivation – school leadership and governors love the fact that there are numerous benefits to this work, especially financially.
For instance, Thetford Academy in Norfolk saved an impressive £6,830 per-year in energy costs after implementing its climate plan, while also cutting 11 tonnes of CO2.
And East Bridgford St Peter’s CE Primary in the Midlands reduced its out-going food costs by half after increasing plant-based meals and sourcing supplies locally – they did this while keeping their take-up of school meals at an impressive 84%.
Data-gathering
To get started in developing your climate action plan, you will first need to quantify and understand how sustainable your setting is and where its key emissions are, identifying areas for improvement and gathering baseline information in order to set targets.
Calculating your schools carbon footprint is an important step and something which should be carried out annually to ensure progress is being made in taking meaningful steps to reduce emissions.
Climate action advisors work with schools to fact-find and support them in calculating their carbon footprints, gathering and contextualising data such as energy usage, procurement, menu choices and more.
Setting up termly or annual surveys for measurable areas such as pupil travel methods can be a great way to not only calculate emissions, but also monitor the impact of any behavioural change initiatives implemented – such as Friday-Ride Day.
Caught the bug: Esher Church School has worked with Let’s Go Zero. Pictured here are eco-warrior pupils looking for bugs and flowers with a magnifying glass (images: JonSpaull/Ashden)
Developing a holistic Climate Action Plan
After the initial fact-finding and data-gathering stage, you may have spotted the priority actions and quick wins. However, it is important to remember that your plans should be a balance of achievable, ambitious, and holistic.
When advising schools, I use a DfE-aligned Climate Action Plan template to ensure that actions encompass not only the four aforementioned key areas, but also break these down into other manageable areas and actions. For example decarbonisation being the biggest area should typically include actions which would aim to reduce emissions from energy, travel, food, procurement and waste.
Plans themselves should aim to cover a one-year period, which will be revisited annually.
Key stakeholders and target timescales should be identified for each action, so that the responsibility of delivering the plan is evenly distributed among the sustainability team and spans the whole year. This reduces overwhelm, which is the often a barrier to action.
Consider the wording of actions, ensuring they are suitable for what is realistic for your setting – for example, “Install solar panels” is perhaps too ambitious for a one-year plan. Instead it may be more suitable to have “Explore the viability of solar panels, and aim to gather a range of quotes”.
Actions can often be adjusted and enhanced to ensure they cover a wider range of areas too – for example, if your school is building an outdoor classroom, this can help to encourage and enable access to nature, while also addressing adaptation and resilience for when certain classrooms may be too hot to have lessons indoors. Ensure the plan aims to involve the wider school community, enabling a cultural shift and improving opportunities to learn green skills.
Finally, sustainability work and successes should be frequently communicated and celebrated through assemblies, newsletters, the school website and social media, to help inspire and encourage others to take action.
Examples of schools taking action
Once your school has gone through the initial fact-finding stage, it is often easy to spot the key actions you need to prioritise. For instance, at Finham Park 2 School in Coventry, data analysis showed that, like many typical schools, 64% of electricity-use was during weekends and holidays, costing £42,000 a year. They are now taking steps to cut this unnecessary energy use – a crucial step toward achieving sustainability goals and cost-savings.
Making sure you are on top of new regulations is also key. With new mandatory recycling regulations for schools now in effect (see DfE, 2024), schools need to ensure systems are properly in place for the collection of food waste and dry recycling. This is a prime example of an action you can include in a climate action plan.
There may also be a larger project to get started on to help inspire your school community. Could you transform a disused building into an eco-hub that serves both as a learning space and a community resource – like Christ the King Sixth Form in London?
Or maybe join a community energy scheme like the 120 schools in Leicester who are working with Green Fox Community Energy, Leicestershire County Council, and Let’s Go Zero? They are getting free, community-funded solar panels and climate action planning guidance.
- Melanie Parr is a climate action advisor at Let’s Go Zero. To contact your region’s Let’s Go Zero climate action advisor, visit https://letsgozero.org/climate-action-advisors/
Let’s Go Zero
Let’s Go Zero began in 2020 as a national campaign to unite schools in calling on the government for more action and to provide support to help them reach zero carbon by 2030. Now, nearly 6,000 schools are signed up and are tapping into knowledge, resources, links and advice.
The climate action advisor project, which involves 32 advisors spread across England, works with schools to offer free climate action support. Free Carbon Literacy training courses are also available.
Working either on a one-to-one basis or in group workshops alongside other schools, Let’s Go Zero can help your school to establish its sustainability leadership, calculate its carbon footprint (essential for monitoring emissions reductions), develop or enhance your climate action plan, and signpost to potential funding and accreditation opportunities.
Schools supported by Let’s Go Zero are collectively reducing emissions by an estimated 82,477 tonnes of CO2 and £235,000 of grants have been secured for schools we work with. Visit https://letsgozero.org/school-case-studies/
Headteacher Update Summer Term Edition 2025
- This article first appeared in Headteacher Update's Summer Term Edition 2025. This edition was sent free of charge to primary schools across the country in May 2025. A free-to-download digital edition is also available via www.headteacher-update.com/content/downloads
Further information & resources
- DfE: Sustainability and climate change: A strategy for the education and children’s services systems, 2023: https://buff.ly/N4rpb6a
- DfE: Buying for Schools (blog): Getting your school or trust ready for new recycling regulations, 2024: https://buff.ly/ytjzst7
- DfE: Guidance: Sustainability leadership and climate action plans in education, 2025: https://buff.ly/cvFNYPi