Climate change

 

CLIMATE CHANGE

The British Council recognises the scientific consensus that the combined cause of climate change, including resource depletion and a decreasing biodiversity are a threat to the well-being of present and future generations all over the world.

1. Supporting action to combat climate change builds trust.

2. We enable young activists to have their voices heard.

3. We provide opportunities for international co-operation in science and the sharing of innovation and best practice.

 

Climate change and trust

•             We are not a campaigning or lobbying organisation, our role is to build trust for the UK.

•             Climate change, sustainable development and food, water and energy security, are significant concerns for the people we work with around the world, especially young people. Supporting them to make a difference in their communities is a powerful means to build trust for the UK.

•             International scientific collaboration unites people and countries in the search for solutions to major global issues, including disease, food, water and energy security.

•             Through programmes that enable people to connect and take action on climate change, we create opportunities for further engagement with the UK.

 

Youth empowerment

•             We provide opportunities for young people to gain access in their classrooms and communities to UK ideas, expertise and resources on science, sustainability and climate change.

•             We provide training and mentoring opportunities for young people and social entrepreneurs to support grassroots projects that promote sustainability and tackle climate change in their communities. This develops their skills in advocacy and leadership and fosters the development of international connections and experience.

 

Science and innovation

•             As the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities, we play a major role in international learning and research in climate change and sustainable development through our higher education partnerships, mobility programmes and exchanges for scientists and researchers.

•             We stimulate international debate, promote dialogue, and share best practice in order to develop mutual understanding and build trust in the UK as an indispensable partner in international work on sustainable economic development, environmental protection and social justice and equity.

•             Even in countries where there may be some distrust of the UK, there is often a real willingness to engage in scientific co-operation in the fields of climate change and sustainable development because of the UK’s reputation as a centre of global expertise and leadership on environmental technologies.

 

FACTS

Our climate programme has supported a global network of 120,000 young people in more than 60 countries over three years. In China alone, a scheme that encourages students to reduce carbon emissions in their schools has involved 1,100 high schools, 1,800 teachers and 12,000 student participants. 800,000 parents and other people connected to the schools have been made aware of the programme and we have reached more than 25 million through the media.

Operated in a seven-country partnership with Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA), our E-idea project provides training, seed funding and mentoring to young eco-entrepreneurs whose projects deal with some of the biggest environmental challenges in East Asia. In its inaugural year, E-idea garnered a media reach of 94 million and direct engagement from 87 ministers and senior officials. The E-idealists have attracted £252,000 in external funding and numerous in-kind donations.

The UK is a world leader in environmental sciences and green technologies and the green economy employs about one million people in the UK.

Developed with the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Meteorological Society, Climate4Classrooms (C4C) provides scientific data, teaching resources and expert-guided teaching activities on climate change and sustainability through a multilingual website. C4C has been rolled out in China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, South Africa and the UK. Created by the Corporate HQ team For use until 30 April 2014

We have sent delegates to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s annual Conference of Parties which constitutes the most prominent international negotiations on climate change. Our climate change programmes support Article Six of the Convention, which is about education, training and public awareness related to climate change.

In the run up to the Rio +20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, we worked with the Natural History Museum and Stakeholder Forum to run a series of debates linked to themes at Rio. These Earth Debates included sessions on Food Security, Sustainable Cities, Natural Capital (i.e., how to put a value on natural assets), and how to measure progress beyond GDP. These online debates engaged a wide international audience through British Council offices all over the world. We have also supported a delegation of young people, working towards sustainability within their own communities to attend the Rio +20 conference and contribute the voice of youth to the discussions on the ‘Future we want’.

As an organisation with a significant global physical presence we are committed to reducing our own environmental impact. Showing we understand and tackle the serious challenges that climate change creates in countries where we work helps us build trust with those communities. By working to reduce our carbon footprint and by operating more sustainably, we cut costs and make good business sense.

We have introduced an Environmental Management System to improve our environmental performance in the UK which has led to all six UK offices achieving the International Standard for Environmental Management (ISO14001).

Overseas, our Environmental Framework tool assesses our progress in managing and mitigating the environmental impact of our activities and our low carbon for cultural relations (LCCR) initiative helps us to manage our carbon impact and also to deal with environmental issues in the countries where we work. This puts a monetary value on our carbon footprint in a particular region and uses these funds to support environmental projects on the ground.

We are aiming to incorporate sustainability into all of our operations, delivering greener programmes that benefit our business as well as the environment.