{"id":101538,"date":"2021-11-08T15:33:12","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T15:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=101538"},"modified":"2021-11-08T15:33:12","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T15:33:12","slug":"zero-carbon-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/zero-carbon-schools\/101538\/","title":{"rendered":"Coalition calls for zero carbon schools by 2030"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week at the COP26 conference<\/a>, the Let\u2019s Go Zero coalition handed a letter to the secretary of state for education, calling for policies and funding to make all UK schools zero carbon by 2030<\/h2>\n

The coalition is supported by more than 700 schools and represents over 300,000 pupils and 40,000 members of staff.<\/p>\n

Members of the coalition include the National Education Union<\/a>, Global Action Plan, IKEA, WWF<\/a>, the Church of England, and is coordinated by climate solutions charity Ashden.<\/p>\n

The letter was signed by Harriet Lamb, CEO of Ashden; Peter Jelkeby, country retail manager UK & Ireland and chief sustainability officer of IKEA; Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union; Nigel Genders, chief education officer of the Church of England Education Office; Emma Knights OBE, chief executive of National Governance Association, alongside Tanya Steele, CEO of WWF UK and Sonja Graham, CEO of Global Action Plan.<\/p>\n

The letter details how backing zero carbon<\/a> schools will play a major role in reaching the government\u2019s target to cut carbon emissions by 78% by 2035, and in the levelling up agenda.<\/p>\n

Decarbonising schools and colleges by investing in modern buildings and technology, alongside energy regeneration and green spaces<\/a>, will not only cut school energy consumption, but also drive job creation in the near future.<\/p>\n

A nationwide schools and colleges retrofit programme would create thousands of new, skilled jobs, and bring economic benefits in local communities.<\/p>\n

The retrofit programme would also contribute to building the companies, supply chains, and skills base required for decarbonising homes and other buildings across the country.<\/p>\n

Retrofitting the UK\u2019s schools would also ensure that green economic activity is spread equally, from rural villages to inner cities.<\/p>\n

The campaign also includes a call to help schools put climate action<\/a> at the heart of their teaching.<\/p>\n

\"zero
Photo: Harriet Lamb, Ashden CEO, Alex Green, Programme Manager of Let’s Go Zero hand and Peter Jelkeby, UK and Ireland CEO of IKEA hand Secretary of State for Education Nadhim Zahawi MP a letter demanding support for schools to take speedy and dramatic climate action. Credit: Ashden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Demands from the campaign include:<\/h3>\n