Our environmental plan

We want to do everything we can to help create a safer, liveable world for girls to thrive in. As part of this, we have a duty to actively reduce our impact on the environment and address climate change – one of the biggest issues facing the world today.

We’ve been supporting environmental sustainability initiatives for several years. In the past, we’ve worked alongside expert partners like WWF and Action for Conservation to create programme resources on environmental themes. We’ve also launched campaigns like #PlasticPromise. Many countries and regions are already doing brilliant work in this area through their own initiatives. Now, we're bringing all this work together and making commitments for the future of Girlguiding.

Why we’re committing to our environmental priorities

• Young people are the group who will be most impacted by climate change. We owe it to girls to help them find their voice and make a difference, both now and in the future.
• Girls are telling us that adults and youth organisations should do more to tackle climate change. Our research shows that 4 in 5 girls say youth organisations like Girlguiding should do more, and strongly believe that girls should have a say in tackling climate change. An overwhelming 84% of our young members say it’s important to them to do something about climate change.
• Girls and women have less representation in spaces where decisions are made about tackling climate change. This includes spaces such as government and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) professions. We want to help girls feel empowered to enter STEM-related education and training, leading to greater inclusion for women in green jobs in the future.
• Young women and girls are more likely to have environmental concerns and related negative emotions, such as anxiety. Young men and boys are slightly more likely to say they are optimistic and have greater faith in the government.