The British Council’s purpose is to build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people worldwide.

We do this through our work in three programme areas
Inter-cultural dialogue
The UK’s creative and knowledge economy
Climate change

We recognise that our activities impact on the environment and are committed to minimising this by improving our environmental performance. We will do this by setting and reviewing objectives and targets as set out in the British Council’s Environmental Framework Tool. Continually improving our environmental performance is essential if we are to fulfil the British Council’s vision, purpose and values.

We will do this by

• Reviewing and understanding the environmental impacts arising from our activities;
• Ensuring that we understand and comply with all relevant environmental legislation, and with any other environmental requirements or commitments;
• Setting environmental objectives and targets for activities having the most significant impact;
• Ensuring that our policy is understood, implemented and maintained by all our colleagues and is supported by suitable education and training;
• Communicating our aspirations and progress in reducing our environmental impact to interested parties, including suppliers, local authorities and project partners and taking account of the goals and aspirations of those organisations;
• Planning our projects in a manner which takes account of their environmental impact, seeking to reduce such effects as much as possible;
• Periodically reviewing our policy to take account of changes in the British Council, legislation, government targets or other internal and external factors.

Our focus will be to

• Minimise the use of materials, energy and water in our premises;
• Minimise the generation of waste and implement re-use or recycling initiatives wherever possible;
• Measure the carbon impact of our operation and identify and implement means of reducing our carbon footprint;
• Incorporate environmental considerations into procurement decisions and use our influence with suppliers and contractors to deliver more sustainable outcomes;
• Monitor the environmental impact of our business travel and prioritise the use of environmentally friendly transport;
• Reduce our travel needs by encouraging alternative mechanisms to deliver our work effectively e.g. greater use of video- or tele-conferencing;
• Use our skills and strengths as an organisation to promote key sustainability messages locally, e.g. by engaging with the climate change agenda;
• Introduce and promote environmental monitoring as an element of our approach to project management.