Minister become UK’s 1,000th Ambassador of University-backed climate scheme
The Minister for Early Years, Stephen Morgan MP, who leads on sustainability at the Department for Education (DfE), has become the UK’s 1,000th Climate Ambassador.
The Climate Ambassadors programme, which has a North West hub led by Manchester Metropolitan University, links experts working on climate and sustainability with education professionals to provide them with free advice on making and action on a Climate Action Plan.
Stephen Morgan MP completed his training this morning (April 8) to officially become the 1,000th person to sign up to the scheme since 2022.
Minister Morgan said: “The Climate Ambassadors programme is a vital part of our strategy to empower schools and educators in tackling the climate crisis, and I’m proud to be joining over 1,000 volunteers to support schools in developing and delivering their climate action plans.
“Nurseries, schools and colleges are beginning their planning for the next academic year. Now is the perfect time to sign up to become a Climate Ambassador and help your local school plan for a sustainable future.”
Following the completion of his training, Minister Morgan will be working with a school on their Climate Action Plan.
As part of the government’s sustainability and climate change strategy, all education settings have been asked to produce climate action plans that will help reduce their community’s environmental impact.
Dr Rachel Dunk, North West Regional Hub lead for Climate Ambassadors at Manchester Met, said: “We are very excited to welcome Minister Morgan as a Climate Ambassador as we continue to work with education settings to make a genuine and lasting difference in the North West.
“As a top five UK sustainable university in the People and Plant University League for the past 12 years, Manchester Met has made a firm commitment to supporting Manchester’s city-region on its journey to net zero carbon before 2038 and the Climate Ambassadors will play a key role in this.”
Climate Action
Climate Ambassadors is delivered by a national consortium of nine universities and the Met Office, led by the University of Reading and The Environmental Association of Colleges and Universities (EAUC).
It is backed by £2 million of funding from the DfE and sees each region in providing free support to education settings in their area through dedicated regional hubs.
The 1,000 Climate Ambassadors have already engaged with more than 1,600 education settings more than one in 15 of all the education settings in England.
The scheme links with other parts of the DfE’s Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy and its funded initiatives.
This includes the National Education Nature Park, of which Manchester Met is the official university partner and sees young people leading the way in forming a vast network of green spaces across England to improve their schools, colleges and nurseries for people and wildlife.
Dr Cormac Lawler, North West Regional Hub Manager for Climate Ambassadors at Manchester Met, said: “Through our network of Climate Ambassadors we are already helping nurseries, schools and colleges turn their climate ambition into meaningful climate action.
“We’re proud of what we’ve achieved to embed sustainability and Carbon Literacy in the DNA of our University, and we look forward to working with partners around the region to continue climate action and build a zero carbon culture.”
The 1,000th Ambassador announcement comes ahead of Manchester Met’s ‘Big day of Climate Action and Carbon Literacy in Education’, which will be held at the University on June 17.
The event will support educational settings (Early Years, Schools and Colleges) to develop and implement climate action plans through practical support from a number of key national initiatives including the National Education Nature Park, Climate Ambassadors, Sustainability Support for Education and Let’s Go Zero.
Find out more about the event and register here.
More information on the Climate Ambassadors scheme by found here or by emailing climateambassadors_nw@mmu.ac.uk.
