Ashden leads the Let’s Go Zero campaign calling on the government for support and funding to get all UK schools to zero carbon by 2030.
Every school, college or nursery that joins will be pledging to work towards a more sustainable future while also urging the government to support this vital mission. As well as lobbying politicians, the campaign will give school leaders the tools and resources to become more sustainable.
Having previously run LESS CO2, Ashden has many years of experience supporting schools to reduce their energy usage, save money on bills, and lower their carbon emissions. LESS CO2 is now delivered by the Let’s Go Zero team.
Green Future Investments Limited (GFIL) is Let’s Go Zero’s core partner.
GFIL, a private company founded in 2021, provides funding to enable and accelerate climate positive innovation targeting net negative and net zero solutions. GFIL seeks opportunities to partner with organisations who share their values and ambitions for a cleaner, greener future.
GFIL began pilot work with Let’s Go Zero in late 2022, exploring how to achieve impact on a national scale. This led to an ambitious programme of work to accelerate the decarbonisation of the UK’s schools, which launched in summer 2023.
Global Action Plan is a charity that’s working for a green and thriving planet where people enjoy their lives within the Earth’s resources. Transform Our World is their online, centralised, quality-rated resource hub to help teachers to bring environmental action into the classroom. It provides opportunities for students to lead impactful projects that tackle the root causes of the climate breakdown and biodiversity loss. The range of curriculum-linked, low prep resources is teacher-reviewed and tested, to ensure it is as easy as possible for teachers to channel the excitement around climate action into schools-based activities.
For over 30 years, WWF has been working with teachers and schools to provide a wide range of topical classroom resources and real-world activities to engage and inspire young people. Over 10,000 UK schools participate in their education programmes and they have a wide range of climate change resources, species and food growing activities to inspire pupils. Their work with schools is part of their mission to build a brighter future for both people and nature.
Learning through Fairtrade opens up a fascinating world, revealing how we are all connected. Use their curriculum resources to discover where our food comes from. Becoming a Fairtrade School means joining a worldwide movement. It offers a great opportunity to look at global issues such as where our food comes from and how we are connected to people around the world. Students can also learn a range of skills, from teamwork and co-operation to persuasive writing to running a stall or tuck shop.
The Eco-Schools programme consists of three structural elements – The Seven Step Framework, the Eco-Schools Topics and assessment for the international Green Flag award. The programme requires support from school leaders and active involvement from staff, as well as a long-term commitment and the willingness to involve students in decision-making.
Sustrans is the charity making it easier for people to walk and cycle. School Streets tackles the congestion, poor air quality and road safety concerns that many schools experience, by restricting motor traffic at the school gates for a short period of time, generally at drop-off and pick-up times. Sustrans School Streets is our programme to support schools and local authorities to trial and implement school streets across the UK.
Carbon Trust provide solutions to the climate crisis. They support organisations globally to accelerate towards Net Zero. From target setting, Net Zero pathways, assurance and footprinting, to policy advice, strategy setting and programme delivery, they seek smarter ways to turn intent into impact, where sustainability and economic realities go hand in hand.
The Tree Council brings everyone together with a shared mission to care for trees and our planet’s future. They inspire and empower organisations, government, communities and individuals with the knowledge and tools to create positive, lasting change at a national and local level.
They offer an extensive programme for schools as well an exciting #ForceforNature campaign, encouraging children to stand up for trees and the natural world. Through their Orchards for Schools programme, The Tree Council provide free bespoke training, resources and tree and hedgerow packs to enable children and teachers to grow their connections, knowledge, skills and passion for trees and nature while improving the treescape and biodiversity on their grounds. The Young Tree Champion Ambassador programme helps children and teachers to build their confidence and creative abilities so that they can speak up and share their passion for being a Force for Nature in their local community and beyond. To find out more, visit The Tree Council Schools Webpage.
WRAP is a climate action NGO working in 40 countries to give the planet a sustainable future. Engaging citizens, governments and businesses, it’s mission is to end waste in food, textiles and plastics and promote the circular economy. WRAP run campaigns such as Recycle Now and Love Food Hate Waste to help make recycling the norm and keep food out of the bin, with The Action Pack programme for schools.
WRAP also runs the Guardians of Grub campaign which aims to reduce the 1.1 million tonnes of food thrown away by the Hospitality and Food Service industry every year.
At Better Planet Education, formerly known as the Young People’s Trust for the Environment (YPTE), our mission is clear: to inspire the next generation to become passionate stewards of our planet. For decades, we’ve been at the forefront of environmental education, and now we’re excited to enter a new chapter under our new name, while maintaining our commitment to fostering a generation of eco-conscious leaders who will shape a brighter, more sustainable future.
We aim to give young people clear and balanced information on a wide range of environmental issues. Better Planet Education provides a range of free education services and resources for schools in the UK, including downloadable lesson plans, free online talks/ presentations, videos and an extensive fact sheet library. We also run Better Planet Schools, an online environmental education platform for primary schools in the UK. To find out more and enrol your school free of charge, please visit https://www.betterplanetschools.org.uk/schools.
Green Schools Project’s Zero Carbon Schools Programme is a series of pupil sessions, teacher training and community engagement outreach that supports pupils to learn more about climate change and for schools to reduce their carbon emissions. The programme explores the causes and effects of the climate crisis, investigates schools’ carbon footprints and enables pupils to design projects to reduce carbon emissions and inspire climate action. It starts after October half term and runs until the end of the school year. Find out more and sign up here!
Energy Sparks is a registered charity providing an online energy management tool and education programme, specifically designed to help UK schools reduce their electricity and gas usage, through the analysis of smart meter data. Energy Sparks helps pupils and the wider school community to reduce their school’s carbon emissions and make a real contribution to addressing the climate emergency. Using a school’s electricity, gas and solar data, Energy Sparks shows pupils, staff and volunteers how much energy the school is using each day. The unique online tool presents bespoke analysis of the energy data with suggestions of actions the school community could take to save energy and reduce the school’s carbon emissions. Energy Sparks has over 100 energy and sustainability education activities and accompanying resources that pupils can participate in through eco-teams or curriculum learning. To enrol your school or Multi-Academy Trust, visit https://energysparks.uk/enrol
Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) is a leading UK conservation charity. Their mission is to create ocean activists everywhere with a vision for a thriving ocean and thriving people. SAS actively campaigns for the environmental protection and restoration of the ocean on four main campaign areas: plastic pollution, ocean recovery, water quality, and ocean & climate.
SAS offers two environmental education programmes: Plastic Free Schools and Ocean School. Plastic Free Schools is a pupil-led education programme to empower young activists to help stop the use of single-use plastics in UK schools. It is completely free and open to any UK school, from early years up to secondary. As part of Ocean School, SAS provides educators with resources to lead their own beach-based activities or take a virtual trip to the coast through Digital Ocean School.
ProVeg UK supports local authorities, multi-academy trusts and individual schools throughout the UK through its School Plates programme. The team helps school menus become healthier, more sustainable and save money through menu reviews, plant-based recipe development and both online and in-person plant-based cooking training with catering staff. You can download The Guide to the programme, as well as The Recipes – 35 plant-based recipes, created specifically for primary schools with key nutrition facts, costs, allergens and CO2 emissions for each recipe. The team have so far helped to swap over 6.4 million meals from meat-based to meat-free or plant-based. They are currently supporting 35 major catering partners (including 29 local authorities), responsible for over 3,500 schools, and over 580,000 children. For more information, get in touch at schools@proveg.com
Young Climate Warriors aims to inspire a national team of children who are engaged and empowered to help tackle climate change. They provide weekly, term-time and age-appropriate fun climate change related challenges encouraging carbon emissions-busting action, sustainable living choices and an appreciation of nature. Being part of a wider, virtual national team enables children’s voices to be heard and encourages a positive sense of collective action.
Young Climate Warriors provides teachers with a weekly ‘schools pack’ linking to the weekly challenge topic – with ready-to-use, trustworthy, rigorous and reliable resources. With a positive outlook, and a ‘this is do-able’ mindset, they encourage action – ‘little by little, a little becomes a lot’. They also offer a series of 10 sessions as a ‘Climate Change Club in a Box‘; a resource that can be used by an eco-council, after-school club, or to stimulate form time discussion. Their Ambassador Programme links schools with local ambassadors and provides in-person, discussion-based, interactive climate change assemblies. Materials are designed for children aged 7 – 14yrs. (KS2 and KS3).
Climate Friendly Schools provides whole school communities with a framework to enable climate action. Developed by, and with teachers, Climate Friendly Schools facilitates the establishment of a Climate Friendly Action Team, enables a school to audit its current climate responsiveness, helps schools to write a Climate Friendly Action Plan and provides guidance on how to complete effective climate actions. Oases North east – Outdoor and Sustainability Education Specialists, the charity behind Climate Friendly Schools, has been delivering this type of support to schools for over 20 years, helping schools to improve their Curriculum, Campus, Culture, Community engagement and Climate Careers guidance across the 7 themes of school Buildings, Consumption, Energy, Food, Grounds, Transport and Water. Climate Friendly Schools is freely available to help schools take climate action, enabling them to reach Lets Go Zero’s ambition for all schools to be zero carbon by 2030, an ambition we whole heartedly support.
Modeshift STARS is the national school awards scheme that has been established to recognise schools that have demonstrated excellence in supporting cycling, walking and other forms of sustainable travel.
The scheme encourages schools across the country to join in a major effort to increase levels of sustainable and active travel in order to improve the health and well-being of children and young people. Every school in England (outside of London) can participate in Modeshift STARS for free. On completion of an application , schools will automatically receive a brand new national standard School Travel Plan.
Another Way is a youth-led environmental education charity aiming to empower people to live with kindness towards our planet. Their flagship Power of 10 Movement aims to build a community of resilient young climate leaders across the U.K., hosted through an online platform and app. Events, workshops and resources empower young people to lead, inspire and create climate action initiatives at all levels of society. They also offer workshops on a range of environmental topics created by young people and teacher resources.
Retrofit Action For Tomorrow CIC is a community interest company with a mission to respond to the climate emergency by providing education and retrofit advice to schools and their surrounding local communities, resulting in energy and emissions reductions, resource efficiency and climate resilience. RAFT is an architect-led, multi-disciplinary team with expertise in deep building retrofit, community engagement, and zero carbon planning.
Energy Heroes is an innovative teaching resource that equips schools and children with the skills and knowledge to reduce carbon emissions and become enthusiastic ambassadors for a sustainable future.
Through engaging lessons and hands-on activities, we inspire young minds to understand the importance of low-carbon, sustainable living — and to make a real difference.
Energy Heroes is an invaluable resource, offering educators vibrant, climate-focused lessons aligned with curriculum standards, along with ongoing support throughout the year. You can find out more at https://energy-heroes.org.uk/
OVO Foundation has joined the Let’s Go Zero campaign to improve access to nature and biodiversity for children and young people across the UK, while supporting schools on their zero-carbon journey.
In 2022, OVO Foundation launched its Climate Changers programme. Ashden – leader of the Let’s Go Zero campaign – was one of three charities to become new partners of OVO Foundation. Through this partnership 75 schools will be awarded the OVO Foundation Nature Prize, a cash prize to kick start their own nature projects. By inspiring climate action in these schools, the project will bring over 37,000 children closer to nature.
Since August 2021, Ashden and IKEA have worked together to drive the Let’s Go Zero campaign forward; and we are delighted to have the opportunity to continue that partnership as the campaign grows and develops.
This year we hope to continue to grow the movement for change, standing alongside children and young people, enabling schools to play a vital role in educating future generations to make sustainable, healthy choices in their lifestyles.
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