voluntary organisations, social enterprises and volunteering
voluntary organisations, social enterprises and volunteering
Third Sector Net Zero report
Created: 15/09/2021A new report is encouraging non-environmental third sector organisations to take action on climate change in the run-up to COP26.
Social Enterprise Network Scotland (SenScot) and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) have combined the findings of surveys to create the Third Sector Net Zero report. It finds that while charities and social enterprises want to do more to tackle climate change, they are not yet taking action to do so. The majority are not measuring their carbon footprint, they don’t have environmental policies, and few are confident their energy is supplied by renewables.
The report also reveals that we need to get better at making the connection between social issues and environmental issues, with 66% of respondents putting social outcomes as their top priority and just under half saying the environment is either not important or only moderately important to their charitable purposes.
It’s clear that many organisations want to make changes but don’t know how to start and are worried it will be time consuming and difficult. The report highlights that 68% of organisations who do not measure their carbon footprint would like to, 54% believe the environment is very or extremely important and 65% are trying to reduce, reuse or recycle their waste.