Listening to girls' priorities on the environment

Earlier this year, we spent time speaking to girls about the environment.

How do girls feel about climate change? How are they taking action? And what do they think Girlguiding should be doing? Today, we’re sharing what they told us – and we want to hear from you, too.

More than 2700 girls shared their thoughts with us. This included both members and non-members. Their thoughts and feedback paint a clear picture: something has to be done.

Climate change can be a source of worry and anxiety for girls. Girls shared with us that they feel sad (43%), scared (32%) and frustrated (29%) when it comes to climate change. But they’re committed to taking action - an overwhelming 84% of young members, and 92% of non-member girls said that it’s important to do something about climate change.

And girls want to be a part of the solution – they told us that they want to have a say in how climate change is tackled and be given the tools and opportunities to make a difference. More than 90% of non-members and 86% of young members who were surveyed had taken action for the climate in the past 12 months.

Crucially, girls also told us that they think youth organisations like Girlguiding should be doing more. 4 out of 5 girls said that the youth sector should be doing more about climate change. And they’ve got lots of ideas about how we can do that.

That’s why we’re working hard on our commitment to environmental sustainability at Girlguiding. On Earth Day in 2024 – Monday 22 April – we'll be sharing what we’ve been working on, and our ambitions for a greener Girlguiding future. It will include commitments from Girlguiding to help us reduce our impact on the environment, as well as other ways that we can take action together to help our planet.

We know lots of good work is going on already, across Girlguiding. We want to learn from this. That’s why we’re working together closely with girls and volunteers to help shape this work through workshops, consultation and surveys. And we want you to have your say, too. Tell us what you want to see from Girlguiding to help your unit be more sustainable. We also want to hear about anything you’re already doing to protect our planet.

We know this won’t be a quick fix. Ensuring that Girlguiding is sustainable and has a positive impact on the climate is a long-term commitment. We’ll all need to work at this, together, for years to come. It’s an exciting journey for us – and one that we’ll all be able to contribute to, in lots of different ways, as we take our next steps.

In the meantime, there are already plenty of ways that you can encourage girls to enjoy and help protect the environment. You could try out our save the planet unit meeting activities, or explore the range of activities that we shared ahead of Earth Day 2023, which you can do either in your unit or at home.