Sustainability
As an organisation, we strive to integrate sustainable practices into our programmes.
Our Environmental Journey
As a youth organisation, we are committed to restoring the planet for children, young people and future generations.
The climate crisis is affecting young people all over the planet, disproportionately impacting people from:
- Small Island Communities
- Low Income Families
- Communities that experience discrimination
Women and children are most affected within these communities.
60% of young people feel climate change and inequality are impacting their generation's mental health
In the UK, children and young people are witnessing the impact that climate change is having on their communities and ecosystems.
In 2019 the UK government set a goal to achieve net zero by 2050, and in 2021 at the COP26 conference the UK government set an additional goal to reduce emissions by 68% by 2030. These goals are in line with the 1.5°C Paris Agreement target, which states that to reverse the effects of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030.
However, according to the Climate Change Committee, the UK is off-track to achieve Net Zero by 2050, and only one third of the required emissions reductions required to meet the country’s 2030 target are currently covered by credible plans.
Today we need about 1.75 planets to provide the resources humanity consumes and absorb the waste we produce. As a collective population, a nation, a business and as individuals, we all have a responsibility to take notice and take action against climate change.
We are responding to the climate and biodiversity crisis through:
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Our policies
Updating our Environmental Policy, and Action Plan for 2023 – 26 in line with ambitious reduction targets
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Measuring our footprint
Continuing to measure our own environmental footprint and find ways to reduce it and create net-positive impacts
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Reporting our impact
Staying accountable by reporting quarterly our Board of Trustees and annually to Arts Council England and being transparent about our own impact
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Youth engagement
Supporting children and young people to explore their local environment and environmental challenges as part of our Placemaking and schools programmes
Our data for 2023/24 shows that our measurable scope 2 emissions for the year were 18.2 tonnes CO2e. The areas of our work with the most significant impacts are energy – home equipment, lighting and heating, and business travel. Our Scope 2 emissions target for 2035 is 4 tonnes.
We are continuing to do what we can to reduce our carbon footprint. We have maintained our “no fly” status, established in 2020, and staff car mileage claims are capped to incentivise rail travel. Traveling by train produces at least 60% fewer emissions and we encourage our team to use public transport whenever possible. We are working hard with our team to find the best ways of working sustainably without compromising on the quality of our in-person programmes.
- Embedding environmental responsibility into our work with young people
- Moving from a central office to a fully dispersed workforce based closer to where our work is delivered
- Investing in online meeting technologies
- Committing the organisation to ‘no fly’
- Promoting our active travel and cycle loans policies to reduce reliance on cars
- Digitising processes to significantly reduce printing, with many operations now entirely paper free
- Taking a digital first approach to creating communications and marketing assets
- Using vegetable-based ink when printing any physical resources
- Surveying our team to collect and share the innovative ways they are reducing their own footprint
- In 2024/25 we will commission creative projects that focus on environmental sustainability in schools in our placemaking areas
- We will advise our team on environmentally sustainable procurement, reducing our Scope 3 Emissions by choosing more sustainable suppliers, resources and materials
Our Environmental Policy
Including scope, responsibility, objectives, monitoring, reporting and review.