Everything we’ve learned about climate change in 2023

In 2023, Charity Digital launched its Climate Action campaign, in order to raise awareness about climate change and empower charities to take meaningful action to protect our planet. Since January, we have published articles, webinars, podcasts, and started our very own Green Team, all aimed at helping charities minimise their carbon footprint and embrace environmental sustainability in their work.

 

We have discovered a lot about charity attitudes to climate change over the last 12 months. Our report, Climate Change in the UK Charity Sector, found that almost nine in ten charities (88%) were concerned about the impacts of climate change. Yet the report also showed that charity professionals rated the sector’s efforts at tackling climate change at a mere six out of ten.

 

The report revealed a desire for more direction when it comes to environmental sustainability. Without standard practices and frameworks, charities struggled to take the next steps beyond recycling bins (important though they are). How could charities go further and take their environmental strategy to the next level?

 

This is where our Climate Action Hub comes in. The Hub is home to all of our climate change, sustainability, and ESG-related content, sharing everything from the stark facts of climate change to the environmental costs of artificial intelligence.

 

Below, we share some of our most popular content that we think will be most helpful for the sector in the next 12 months.

 

 

Articles on climate change and climate action

 

Using refurbished tech can help save money and be more environmentally friendly, without sacrificing the reliability of your devices. Charities can make this simple change in 2024 with our practical guide, How charities can find refurbished tech.

 

The ultimate guide to becoming a sustainable organisation outlines some of the key steps that charities can take to become more sustainable, including through leadership, operations, culture, and finance.

 

Digital can be used by charities to fight climate change and the impacts it has on communities. In Climate change: How to use tech for empowerment, we explore how one non-profit connects marginalised communities with the right digital tech to defend their environmental and human rights.

 

As a charity, we strongly believe in the transformative power of digital technology. But we also believe in the importance of human behaviour and the choices we all make to create a better world. In Can tech save the planet?, we explore both the opportunities and limitations of tech in tackling the climate crisis.

 

Moving to the personal level, What is eco-anxiety?, explores ways to deal with the anxiety that climate change can cause in order to become more resilient in the face of climate challenges.

 

 

Webinars on climate change and climate action

 

Our first webinar, Climate Action, explored definitions of climate crisis, impacts of climate change in the UK, why charities need to lead by example, how charities can lead, and the resources that charities might need. You can check out the webinar below.

 

 

We also produced a webinar with our friends from the Wildlife Trust. The session examined how The Wildlife Trusts use digital to combat climate change, how digital helps the Federation deepen its impact and leverage resources better in tackling climate change, and how to confront the reality that digital solutions alone can’t save us from the climate crisis.

 

 

 

Podcasts on climate change and climate action

 

One of our first podcasts on climate change followed our report, Climate Change in the UK Charity Sector, which you can download below. We discussed what the findings say about the charity sector, the absence of meaningful action to tackle climate change, core barriers charities face, and much more.

 

 

We also published two podcasts exploring the state of climate action, one featuring guests from non-environmental charities, such as City Bridge Foundation and The British Youth Council, and one from key environmental charities, such as WWF UK, The Wildlife Trusts, and the RSPB.

 

You can hear both of those fascinating discussions below.

 

 

 

 

Report on the charity sector and climate change

 

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

 

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.  

 

The results were striking. 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.

 

You can read all of the above, and so much more, by downloading the report below.

 

 

In conclusion, though not concluding

 

Though 2023 is wrapping up, our Climate Action campaign will not be. Charity Digital remain committed to helping the charity sector tackle climate change now and in the future, learning as we go.

 

Check out our Climate Hub for more information or sign up to our Climate Action newsletter for updates.