In November 2020, ACEVO formed a member working group on the climate crisis. The group aims to inform and steer ACEVO’s work in this space, advising on ACEVO staff and trustees’ key decisions concerning the outputs and offers we provide to our members. The working group will contribute ideas and act as a sounding board to proposals made by ACEVO and help elevate the sustainability issue across the sector through their individual networks.
In January 2023, a new cohort was formed. We asked them why they wanted to be part of this work, and their thoughts on civil society organisations’ role in tackling the climate crisis.
Quakers have always seen action to change the world for the better as part of religious faith. We’ve been campaigning for some years for climate justice – dealing not just with climate change but the economic and other injustice that drives it. Bringing these faith and climate justice perspectives to the group, and to hear about other actions and ways of responding to the climate crisis, was why I wanted to join the group.
Oliver Robertson, Quakers in Britain
I believe that there are no bigger social justice issues to address than climate and biodiversity crises, so all charities have a crucial role to play in organising, campaigning, mitigating and helping civil society to adapt to the huge changes that we will have to make. I am delighted to join the working group for a second term, along with other colleagues, new and old, to see how we can support the sector to collaborate on this most important and urgent of issues.
Janet Thorne, Reach Volunteering
I would like to see the civil society sector taking a lead in this, reaching as it does into every part of society. Water is often forgotten in the wider environmental agenda, including in ACEVO’s own internal environmental commitments. But the great news is that wasting less water can significantly reduce bills, energy and carbon too – as well as leaving more for homes, business, the economy and the natural environment. I’m thrilled to be on this group for a second term, with some fab new and old members, to help us drive action on the climate emergency for the sake of the people we work for. The climate emergency is a social justice emergency – we are already running out of water in the UK, for example, and it will tend not to be the privileged who suffer first or most.
Nicci Russell, Waterwise
It is incoherent to care about the welfare of people and not care about climate change and biodiversity loss. Regardless of how important our missions are, how busy we are, or how much financial pressure we are under, we owe it to those who rely on our services to respond with courage and honesty to the existential crises we now face. As part of the ACEVO Working Group, I look forward to collaborating with others and improving my understanding of how best charity leaders can perform this most important of roles.
Marguerite Hughes, IPSWO
I split my time between fundraising for a local charity and delivering carbon literacy courses to local businesses, I strongly believe that the key to reducing our carbon emissions is education both at an individual and organisational level. I joined the group to gain more knowledge and ideas on how to reduce emissions for the charitable sector at minimal cost. On a personal level I would like my children to experience the world and all of its natural wonders, if we don’t start to make a change this won’t be an option.
Donna Walker, A Way Out
I joined the Climate Crisis group as I strongly believe that taking action on climate change needs to be a collective effort across the voluntary sector, irrespective of an organisation’s cause or mission. It’s my hope that the group can inspire voluntary groups and charities to make climate action a part of their day to day activities, and also help ACEVO to provide the practical support and resources to make this happen. By coming together as civil society leaders I believe we can bring action on climate change into the mainstream.
Andrew Brown, The Veolia Environmental Trust
My day job is to drive forward sustainability, and I volunteer for two charities involved in urban sustainability and the protection of public green spaces. Sharing knowledge and developing new ideas with different communities takes us all closer to a healthier, greener, inclusive, and more resilient world. I want my daughters’ generation to inherit a better world than the one I experienced growing-up and, at present, that is a huge challenge!
Tim Webb, National Park City Foundation
