Report: Climate change and the charity sector

Almost nine in ten charities (88%) say they are concerned about the impacts of climate change, according to a new report from Charity Digital, Climate Change in the UK Charity Sector. 

The report, which brings together survey responses from across the breadth of the charity sector, was aimed at understanding how charities feel about climate change, whether it is on their agenda, and what action they’ve taken in order to tackle it.  

While the sector was overwhelmingly concerned about the effects of charities – including 86% of charity professionals who said environmental sustainability was a personal priority – most charities rated the action taken by the sector to address climate change at six out of ten.  

This is especially concerning given that 71% of charities say they expect to be affected or have already been affected by the impacts of climate change. The challenge, as indicated by the report, is (alongside limited resources and funds) charities are unclear as to what actionable steps they need to take to become more sustainable, particularly in the absence of a universal reporting framework to monitor progress across the sector.  

Overall, the report revealed three key themes: 

• Charities are concerned about climate change but have yet to take action
• There is no universal understanding of environmental sustainability in the UK charity sector
• Charities are unclear about the importance of environmental sustainability in their organisation 

Common to all three of these themes is the lack of clear communication both within organisations themselves and among the wider charity network about what environmental sustainability means and the concrete actions they can take. While many charities praised the work of environmental organisations, for example, other respondents were not sure what they could do to make their workplace more environmentally sustainable.  

Similarly, almost a quarter (23%) of respondents said they were not sure if environmental sustainability factored into their organisation’s decision-making, while a fifth of respondents said they did not know if it was a priority for their charity’s leadership. Around two in five respondents said they were unsure or were not empowered to implement sustainable changes in their charity.  

That’s why we at Charity Digital launched this survey in the first place. The purpose of the report is to not only understand the challenges charities are facing in addressing climate change, but also to encourage the sector to work together, to share ideas, and ultimately move forward to a more environmentally sustainable future – one that is supported, not hindered, by digital and technology. 

You can download the full findings from the report below.