Your Climate Action Plan
A step-by-step guide to building a climate action plan that is measurable, manageable, and meaningful — with everything you need from notyetzero in one place.
A climate action plan is not a tick-box exercise. Done well, it is a living document that connects your whole school community to real action on climate change. This page walks you through how to build one, step by step, and pulls together everything on notyetzero that can help.
Three planning principles
Before you start, keep these three principles in mind. Every action in your plan should meet all three.
You should be able to see whether it is working. Set a clear measure for every action — even a simple one.
It has to be something your team can actually do with the time and resource you have. Ambition is good. Overcommitment is not.
It should matter to your school community — connected to what pupils, staff, and families care about and can see.
Four steps to getting started
Create your sustainability leadership group
Who is responsible? Who is involved? Who is your link to governors and senior leadership? You cannot do this alone — and you should not try to.
Know your context
Where are you starting from? What is already happening? What do pupils, staff, parents, and the local community think and care about?
Create your plan
Use the four areas below. Prioritise what is achievable. Set realistic objectives with clear owners, timescales, and measures.
Prioritise, review, and evaluate
Review regularly. Celebrate progress. Update the plan as things change. A plan that is never reviewed is not a plan.
Download the free Climate Action Plan template
A fully branded, editable Word document covering all four areas — with action tables, a review section, and guidance notes. Free to use and adapt with attribution to notyetzero.
⬇ Download the CAP template (.docx)Area 1: Decarbonisation
Reducing the carbon emissions your school produces directly — through energy, travel, buildings, and procurement.
Where to start
- Begin with an energy audit. Understand your current usage before setting any targets — your energy bills are the starting point.
- Switch to LED lighting if you have not already. One of the easiest and most cost-effective changes available to most schools.
- Check heating and hot water — thermostat settings, timer programmes, and whether the building loses heat unnecessarily through gaps, draughts, or poorly insulated pipes.
- Explore renewable energy — solar PV and solar thermal. Funding is available through schemes including PSDS and SHINE. Talk to your local authority about what is available in your area.
- Develop an active travel plan for staff and pupils. Walking buses, cycling schemes, and staff car-sharing all make a difference.
- Review catering and procurement. Reduce food waste, explore plant-rich menus, and look at where food comes from. A plant-rich school meal has a significantly lower carbon footprint.
- Reduce single-use plastics in school events, catering, and classroom supplies.
Area 2: Mitigation and Adaptation
Preparing your school for a changing climate — managing heat, flooding, extreme weather, and supporting pupil wellbeing.
Where to start
- Review your building for overheating risk — blinds on south and west-facing windows, ventilation options, and shade on the school grounds.
- Develop a clear hot weather policy covering uniform, outdoor time, staggered playtimes, school trips, and pupils with medical needs.
- Sign up for UKHSA Heat-Health Alerts and Met Office weather warnings — free, and gives you advance notice to plan rather than react.
- Check flood risk and drainage, particularly if your school is in a low-lying area. Contact your local authority if you have concerns.
- Build pupil climate literacy and emotional resilience alongside the science. Agency and action are the antidote to eco-anxiety — make sure every lesson includes what is being done, not just what is happening.
- Address doomism directly. If pupils feel it is too late to act, that needs a confident, honest response — not avoidance.
- Involve pupils in adaptation planning. What have they noticed about the weather? What worries them? What do they think the school should do?
Area 3: Biodiversity
Improving the biodiversity of your school grounds and connecting pupils to the natural world.
Where to start
- Start with a biodiversity audit of your school grounds. What is already there? The National Education Nature Park has free tools to help you record and improve what you have.
- Create or improve habitats: wildflower areas, bird boxes, bug hotels, a small pond, or tree planting. Even a tarmac-heavy school can do more than you might think.
- Reduce mowing. Letting grass grow in areas not used for active play is one of the simplest and highest-impact things a school can do for biodiversity.
- Grow food. A kitchen garden, raised beds, or even a few pots connect pupils to food systems, reduce waste, and provide genuine curriculum hooks.
- Connect with local wildlife organisations. Your local Wildlife Trust, RSPB group, or nature reserve may be very willing to work directly with your school.
- Use biodiversity work as a curriculum hook across science, geography, art, and design technology.
Area 4: Green Careers and Curriculum
Embedding climate literacy across the curriculum and opening doors to green careers for every pupil.
Where to start
- Do a curriculum audit — map where climate content currently appears across all subjects and year groups. Where are the gaps? Where is there repetition without progression?
- Apply a climate lens across all subjects, not just science and geography. English, history, maths, art, DT, and PSHE all have natural climate connections waiting to be made explicit.
- Get staff trained. Carbon Literacy is the most widely recognised accredited training available — practical, accessible, and confidence-building for non-specialists. Available through notyetzero.
- Use Climate Fresk for whole-staff or whole-class systems thinking. Available internationally and adaptable for different groups including SEND settings.
- Build genuine pupil voice into the CAP — eco groups that are involved in decisions, not just in implementing them, have far more impact.
- Make green careers visible to all pupils — trades, apprenticeships, and technical roles as well as graduate routes. The green economy needs everyone.
- Build community partnerships with local sustainability groups, businesses, and environmental organisations to bring climate education to life beyond the classroom.
Useful on notyetzero
Beyond the Biscuit Tin: Getting the Most from Your School Eco Group What the Ten-Point Plan Actually Means for Your School When Climate Education Feels Political Words Matter: A Guide to Climate Vocabulary Making Climate Education Accessible Who Is Climate Education Actually For? — on green careers and accessGetting your team together
A climate action plan is only as strong as the team behind it. The sustainability lead cannot do this alone — and should not have to.
- Senior leadership buy-in is essential. Without it, the plan sits on a shelf. Make the business case: energy savings, Ofsted direction of travel, pupil wellbeing, and community reputation all help.
- Governors need to understand the plan and ideally have a named climate governor who champions it at board level.
- Staff across all departments should feel that climate education belongs to them, not just the geography or science department.
- Pupils should be involved from the start — in setting priorities, not just in carrying out decisions already made by adults.
- Parents and the local community are an often-overlooked resource. Local sustainability groups, businesses, and parents with relevant expertise can all contribute meaningfully.
Training and support from notyetzero
Rebecca Stacey offers Carbon Literacy training, Climate Fresk facilitation, climate action planning support, and curriculum development for schools at any stage of this journey. Available in-person in Cumbria and the north of England, and online nationally.
Talking to governors about your plan
One of the most common stumbling blocks is getting governors on board. Our practical guide covers how to frame the conversation, what evidence to bring, and how to handle scepticism.
New to the sustainability lead role?
The notyetzero guide for sustainability leads covers the first steps, how to avoid burning out, and how to build a team that shares the load.
Free Climate Action Plan template
Download the notyetzero CAP template — editable Word document, all four areas, action tables, review section. Free to use with attribution.
⬇ Download the CAP template (.docx)notyetzero is free to use. If this page has been useful, you can support the work with the price of a coffee. Every contribution helps keep the resources free and the site growing.
☕ Buy me a coffeeMore from notyetzero
Your Climate Action Plan
A step-by-step guide to building a climate action plan that is measurable, manageable, and meaningful — with everything you need from notyetzero in one place.
A climate action plan is not a tick-box exercise. Done well, it is a living document that connects your whole school community to real action on climate change. This page walks you through how to build one, step by step, and pulls together everything on notyetzero that can help.
Three planning principles
Before you start, keep these three principles in mind. Every action in your plan should meet all three.
You should be able to see whether it is working. Set a clear measure for every action — even a simple one.
It has to be something your team can actually do with the time and resource you have. Ambition is good. Overcommitment is not.
It should matter to your school community — connected to what pupils, staff, and families care about and can see.
Four steps to getting started
Create your sustainability leadership group
Who is responsible? Who is involved? Who is your link to governors and senior leadership? You cannot do this alone — and you should not try to.
Know your context
Where are you starting from? What is already happening? What do pupils, staff, parents, and the local community think and care about?
Create your plan
Use the four areas below. Prioritise what is achievable. Set realistic objectives with clear owners, timescales, and measures.
Prioritise, review, and evaluate
Review regularly. Celebrate progress. Update the plan as things change. A plan that is never reviewed is not a plan.
Download the free Climate Action Plan template
A fully branded, editable Word document covering all four areas — with action tables, a review section, and guidance notes. Free to use and adapt with attribution to notyetzero.
⬇ Download the CAP template (.docx)Area 1: Decarbonisation
Reducing the carbon emissions your school produces directly — through energy, travel, buildings, and procurement.
Where to start
- Begin with an energy audit. Understand your current usage before setting any targets — your energy bills are the starting point.
- Switch to LED lighting if you have not already. One of the easiest and most cost-effective changes available to most schools.
- Check heating and hot water — thermostat settings, timer programmes, and whether the building loses heat unnecessarily through gaps, draughts, or poorly insulated pipes.
- Explore renewable energy — solar PV and solar thermal. Funding is available through schemes including PSDS and SHINE. Talk to your local authority about what is available in your area.
- Develop an active travel plan for staff and pupils. Walking buses, cycling schemes, and staff car-sharing all make a difference.
- Review catering and procurement. Reduce food waste, explore plant-rich menus, and look at where food comes from. A plant-rich school meal has a significantly lower carbon footprint.
- Reduce single-use plastics in school events, catering, and classroom supplies.
Area 2: Mitigation and Adaptation
Preparing your school for a changing climate — managing heat, flooding, extreme weather, and supporting pupil wellbeing.
Where to start
- Review your building for overheating risk — blinds on south and west-facing windows, ventilation options, and shade on the school grounds.
- Develop a clear hot weather policy covering uniform, outdoor time, staggered playtimes, school trips, and pupils with medical needs.
- Sign up for UKHSA Heat-Health Alerts and Met Office weather warnings — free, and gives you advance notice to plan rather than react.
- Check flood risk and drainage, particularly if your school is in a low-lying area. Contact your local authority if you have concerns.
- Build pupil climate literacy and emotional resilience alongside the science. Agency and action are the antidote to eco-anxiety — make sure every lesson includes what is being done, not just what is happening.
- Address doomism directly. If pupils feel it is too late to act, that needs a confident, honest response — not avoidance.
- Involve pupils in adaptation planning. What have they noticed about the weather? What worries them? What do they think the school should do?
Area 3: Biodiversity
Improving the biodiversity of your school grounds and connecting pupils to the natural world.
Where to start
- Start with a biodiversity audit of your school grounds. What is already there? The National Education Nature Park has free tools to help you record and improve what you have.
- Create or improve habitats: wildflower areas, bird boxes, bug hotels, a small pond, or tree planting. Even a tarmac-heavy school can do more than you might think.
- Reduce mowing. Letting grass grow in areas not used for active play is one of the simplest and highest-impact things a school can do for biodiversity.
- Grow food. A kitchen garden, raised beds, or even a few pots connect pupils to food systems, reduce waste, and provide genuine curriculum hooks.
- Connect with local wildlife organisations. Your local Wildlife Trust, RSPB group, or nature reserve may be very willing to work directly with your school.
- Use biodiversity work as a curriculum hook across science, geography, art, and design technology.
Area 4: Green Careers and Curriculum
Embedding climate literacy across the curriculum and opening doors to green careers for every pupil.
Where to start
- Do a curriculum audit — map where climate content currently appears across all subjects and year groups. Where are the gaps? Where is there repetition without progression?
- Apply a climate lens across all subjects, not just science and geography. English, history, maths, art, DT, and PSHE all have natural climate connections waiting to be made explicit.
- Get staff trained. Carbon Literacy is the most widely recognised accredited training available — practical, accessible, and confidence-building for non-specialists. Available through notyetzero.
- Use Climate Fresk for whole-staff or whole-class systems thinking. Available internationally and adaptable for different groups including SEND settings.
- Build genuine pupil voice into the CAP — eco groups that are involved in decisions, not just in implementing them, have far more impact.
- Make green careers visible to all pupils — trades, apprenticeships, and technical roles as well as graduate routes. The green economy needs everyone.
- Build community partnerships with local sustainability groups, businesses, and environmental organisations to bring climate education to life beyond the classroom.
Useful on notyetzero
Beyond the Biscuit Tin: Getting the Most from Your School Eco Group What the Ten-Point Plan Actually Means for Your School When Climate Education Feels Political Words Matter: A Guide to Climate Vocabulary Making Climate Education Accessible Who Is Climate Education Actually For? — on green careers and accessGetting your team together
A climate action plan is only as strong as the team behind it. The sustainability lead cannot do this alone — and should not have to.
- Senior leadership buy-in is essential. Without it, the plan sits on a shelf. Make the business case: energy savings, Ofsted direction of travel, pupil wellbeing, and community reputation all help.
- Governors need to understand the plan and ideally have a named climate governor who champions it at board level.
- Staff across all departments should feel that climate education belongs to them, not just the geography or science department.
- Pupils should be involved from the start — in setting priorities, not just in carrying out decisions already made by adults.
- Parents and the local community are an often-overlooked resource. Local sustainability groups, businesses, and parents with relevant expertise can all contribute meaningfully.
Training and support from notyetzero
Rebecca Stacey offers Carbon Literacy training, Climate Fresk facilitation, climate action planning support, and curriculum development for schools at any stage of this journey. Available in-person in Cumbria and the north of England, and online nationally.
Talking to governors about your plan
One of the most common stumbling blocks is getting governors on board. Our practical guide covers how to frame the conversation, what evidence to bring, and how to handle scepticism.
New to the sustainability lead role?
The notyetzero guide for sustainability leads covers the first steps, how to avoid burning out, and how to build a team that shares the load.
Free Climate Action Plan template
Download the notyetzero CAP template — editable Word document, all four areas, action tables, review section. Free to use with attribution.
⬇ Download the CAP template (.docx)notyetzero is free to use. If this page has been useful, you can support the work with the price of a coffee. Every contribution helps keep the resources free and the site growing.
☕ Buy me a coffee