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In January 2024 the Department of Education (DfE) released its Sustainability and climate change strategy: Evaluation framework which states that ‘by 2025, all education settings will have nominated a sustainability lead and put in place a climate action plan’. This includes all early years settings and childminders.

A climate action plan is a detailed plan to enable your setting to progress or commence sustainability initiatives. This is all part of the Let’s Go Zero national campaign uniting all education settings and the children who attend as they work together to be zero carbon by 2030.

The DfE have now released non-statutory guidance to help you get started with this called the Sustainability leadership and climate action plans in education.

The framework ensures that current and future sustainability evaluation activities are proportionate, comprehensive, and consistent, aligned with the departmental-wide Evaluation Strategy. In summary the UK requires the education sector to play its role in positively responding to climate change and inspiring action on an international stage. Moreover, their vision is for a department which is able to access a strong evidence base to support policy making and able to demonstrate the changes our policies are achieving.

Childminding UK have put together a sustainability plan that you can amend to suit your own setting. Whilst Childminders are not required to have a written plan, this document goes through the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and sets out ways in which childminders may achieve these.

This plan is included in your membership and outlines strategies to reduce environmental impact, promote sustainable practices, and teach children the importance of caring for the planet. We hope you find it useful.

Non-members can purchase the plan by clicking on the link here.

Members can find this by clicking on ‘resources’ in your dashboards.