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Our environment plan

From 2023 to 2030

At The National Lottery Community Fund we believe that It starts with community. We know that communities are happier and healthier when they live in a high-quality environment and that an increasing number of people and communities across the UK are concerned about their environment 1.

In our recent strategy renewal process, communities told us that they want bolder change to tackle some of the big challenges they face. As a result, one of our 4 community-led missions outlines where we will focus some of our funding, learning and efforts to support communities to be environmentally sustainable.

Environment means different things to different colleagues, stakeholders and across communities. In this Environment Plan, Environment encompasses all 3 priority areas that the UN has identified as putting global economic and social wellbeing at risk: Climate, Nature, and Pollution.

Our goals

This Plan is guided by a process of internal and external engagement as part of our Strategy Renewal.

Goal 1: Be a world-class environmental funder

Our strategy states 2 that we will invest in specific environmental projects, so communities can help create a healthy planet. We’ll fund projects that:

  • reduce carbon emissions and negative environmental impact
  • create positive environmental impact
  • establish equality of access to the natural environment
  • improve the quality of natural spaces.

Our experience has shown that environmental grant programmes in recent years have demonstrated significant demand from communities. Our research shows that these grants are more likely than average to contribute to community benefits like enabling people to live healthier lives, and bringing people together around the environment to increase local pride and belonging 3. Indeed, the co-benefits of environmental work are increasingly understood and an important element that should sit behind our funding approach 4.

Notably, our strategy states that while our funding is available to all communities, we’ll take an equity-based approach and fund where there is greatest need. In the context of environmental funding this implies building resilience amongst those communities most affected by environmental degradation or most at risk of climate change impacts 5, as well as supporting those most able to reduce environmental impact in their communities (e.g., through behaviour change, or capital investments to improve community assets in any/all communities).

Achievements to date

In the last 5 years, the Fund has committed over £440 million to projects in communities across the UK that involve environmental activities. We fund projects of all sizes that involve environmental action, including action on waste and consumption, energy, transport, food and the natural environment.

In recognition of the climate emergency we now face, in 2019 the Fund announced a significant investment in supporting people to work together to take climate action in their local communities. The £100m Climate Action Fund aims over 10 years to showcase best practice and inspire and influence the building of a wider community-led movement to respond to climate change. Over £50m had been committed by March 2023.

Other significant environmental funding programmes include: Our Bright Future; Communities Living Sustainably; Create Your Space Wales; Living Places and Spaces.

Targets

  • 1a: Each of our 5 funding portfolios will have a clear response to the Environmental Sustainability Mission through targeted and/or responsive funding approaches by summer 2024, aligned with the missions framework and including specific reference to supporting people and communities to focus on:
    • climate action, including adaptation and resilience
    • nature recovery.
  • 1b: Through a structured offer of training and resources 6, we will empower our funding teams, panels and committees to make confident funding decisions based on a clear understanding of key environmental issues.
  • 1c: We will understand, and be able to demonstrate, the difference that environmental projects that we fund make, in terms of their contribution to our missions, as well as how they impact on other social indicators 7.
  • 1d: As set out in the Corporate Plan 2024–2027, at least 15% of our grants will go to projects that have environmental sustainability as their primary aim (KPI 4).

Goal 2: Improve the environmental impact of the VCS sector

Our Corporate Plan states that: ‘We will put environment at the heart of our funding and operations’ (Strategic priority 4). Our Strategy states that: We’ll embed support for environmental action across all funding, including supporting all projects to consider the environment even when this isn’t their main focus.

As the largest single source of funding for community activities in the UK, we want to leverage our position to build towards an environmentally regenerative future. This means recognising the direct and indirect environmental impacts of our funding, supporting our applicants and grant holders to strengthen their understanding and commitments, and going beyond funding to provide wider support to the sector.

Achievements to date

Since 2019 we have run several successful pilots to inspire existing grant holders to take environmental action, including Climate Action Top-Ups and Climate Action Boost in Wales, and Environmental Top-Ups in Northern Ireland.

In 2020 we published a page on our website with environmental guidance for applicants and grant holders. This page contains tips to reduce the environmental impact of community groups and projects, reduce energy costs, and country-specific suggestions on where to go for further environmental support and guidance.

In 2021 we launched the Climate Action Hub, an online space to find out how to apply for funding to support climate action, read insights and learnings from our environmental projects and programmes, and keep up to date with the latest news and events.

Targets

  • 2a: We will review our funding portfolios to establish a clear understanding of where community projects have the most significant environmental impacts (both positive and negative) 8. We will use this understanding to shift the focus of our funding, where appropriate, to maximise the (direct and indirect) positive environmental impacts of our funding and minimise the negative impacts 9.
  • 2b: We will review our funding processes, to ensure that we move from inspire to require. We will consult on and establish an appropriate pathway to set out a (graded) expectation for applicants to provide information to us about their environmental performance and commitments, for both funded projects and for their organisations as a whole.
  • 2c: We will provide a package of support options for our applicants and grant holders 10, to help them reduce negative environmental impacts and maximise their potential for positive environmental impact as well as to advocate for positive action in their communities 11.
  • 2d: We will take a consistent approach across the UK on what our ambition to be an environmentally regenerative funder means in practice, including our approach to funding capital requirements and behaviour change.

Goal 3: Become an exemplar in managing our environmental impact

Our latest Corporate Plan commits us to being ‘an exemplar in managing our own environmental impact by working towards net zero and sharing our practice along the way to inspire others’ (Strategic priority 4).

Achievements to date

  • We have established an active network of 50+ colleagues in the Climate Action Network (previously the Green Champions), who support the internal communication of environmental targets, check and challenge on strategy, and drive behaviour change campaigns.
  • By January 2024, we will have reduced our office footprint by 52% from 8,839m² (2020) to 4,231m², and committed to an ongoing review of our future physical space requirements.
  • Between 2020 and 2023, 100 colleagues have taken a Carbon Literacy course, including representatives of every team and directorate.
  • We have been measuring and reducing our emissions in some way since 2007/08, achieving Planet Mark status in 2021, and have achieved carbon neutrality through purchasing carbon offsets since 2018.
  • In 2021 we established a no-fly policy for our colleagues, with the exception of colleagues based in Northern Ireland or those travelling to remote Scottish islands.

Targets

  • 3a: We will embed a continuous improvement culture, including through reimagining our property and technology strategies to reduce total space contracted, minimising any negative environmental impacts and enabling our evolving models of working spaces and styles.
  • 3b: We will refresh our Environmental Policy with specific reference to our operations (including the transport hierarchy, homeworking, improving our office accommodation, our approach to events and catering, and our digital carbon footprint).
  • 3c: We will establish and provide a minimum level of training for all colleagues 12 on understanding the climate and nature emergencies and steps people can take, ensuring that responsibility on delivering the Environment Plan is shared across the Fund.
  • 3d: We will establish a Net Zero emissions baseline, including a better understanding of our Scope 3 carbon footprint 13, and set a pathway to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2030.

Goal 4: Demonstrate influence and leadership

We want to build on our position as a major funder and our potential influence with Government, through convening stakeholders and sharing our knowledge, evidence and learning, in order to extend the positive environmental impact we aim to achieve.

We want to be known as a trusted voice on the relationship between communities and the environment, leveraging our unique position that reaches across the voluntary and community sector, to actively showcase the role communities can and do play in improving our environment and help to spread good practice. In line with our ambition to be an environmentally regenerative funder we want to show how, through funding and additional support, communities can best be supported to lead the way to a regenerative future for our planet.

Achievements to date

  • The National Lottery Community Fund convenes and chairs a cross-distributor group of environment leads for all National Lottery distributor bodies, which meets three to four times a year to share learning, ambition and good practice.
  • In October 2023, we joined over 100 other funders in the sector in signing the Funder Commitment on Climate Change.

Targets

  • 4a: Set aside dedicated funding and/or resource for research into how communities can best be supported to work together towards a regenerative future. This includes developing and improving our approach and systems for evidence, research and monitoring to support our ability to influence and show leadership.
  • 4b: Work in partnership with other funders and infrastructure bodies, to improve the environmental impact of the funding sector. Explore other potential partnerships (e.g., with private sector, media organisations, government) to extend our influence – through campaigns, funding or support beyond funding.
  • 4c: Proactively seek out opportunities to communicate externally on our commitment, practice and learnings, for example through speaking opportunities, webinars, guest blogs, podcasts and thought pieces, as well as sector and national press.
  • 4d: Develop a robust internal 14 and external communication plan for the Environmental Sustainability Mission and Environment Plan, including how and when to communicate headline targets and progress made on them, which audiences to target, narrative approach, opportunities for brokerage, and a stakeholder engagement / advocacy strategy, and aligned with timetables for other communications activity.
  • EP4e: Work with Allwyn and the National Lottery Promotions Unit to more explicitly connect playing the National Lottery with supporting projects that improve the environment.

Delivery and oversight

  • Our Environment Plan feeds into the Corporate Plan and is reviewed annually by the Policy and Practice sub-committee. It is owned by the Senior Management Team lead on Environment, supported by the Head of Climate Action and Environmental Officer.
  • The Fund’s Senior Management Team and Board will receive an annual update on progress against key targets within the Environment Plan, Corporate Plan and Fund-wide UK Strategy It starts with community.
  • Each Directorate is responsible for developing and implementing activities that contribute to the delivery of our Environment Plan, and funding portfolios in particular should ensure that plans are in place to deliver against all four strands of the Plan. A new cross-directorate working group will ensure that information is shared in a timely manner across the Fund, and each portfolio’s approach.
  • The Environment Plan Delivery Group (EPDG) meets quarterly to review progress, and all directorates should build reference to the Environment Plan into their business plans.

Footnotes

  1. Environmental concerns are regularly amongst the top issues of concern for the UK public; Climate Change is now the second biggest concern facing adults in Great Britain (74%), just behind the rising cost of living (79%); ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, Oct 2022. 
  2. Since publication of the Strategy, further work has taken place to evolve this into our missions framework.
  3. Extract from Putting Communities First, Our Impact Report (TNLCF, November 2021, p87). 
  4. There are obvious and clear opportunities for intersectional funding between all four missions of our strategy. 
  5. This approach ensures that climate justice sits at the heart of our funding strategy. 
  6. Including adding an environmental component to our mandatory training programme for all staff, Workplace Essentials. 
  7. This is intended to help us demonstrate and quantify the intersectional nature of environmental funding. 
  8. This will align with our our missions framework.
  9. While this is positioned as a one-off piece of work, we anticipate the need to continually review the quality of the data and evidence we collect and to use best available evidence in our decision-making going forward. 
  10. Drawing inspiration, for example, from a grant we provided Voluntary Organisations’ Network North East to develop goinggreentogether.org, and the mentoring service model developed for Sustainable Steps in Wales. 
  11. This will include helping the sector to understand the links between social and environmental justice. 
  12. And encourage this to be built into objectives where possible, in line with the approach for other strategic missions. 
  13. Scope 3 includes our travel, homeworking, procurement (incl. technology) and wider supply chain emissions. 
  14. Internal engagement opportunities might include sharing best practice on our internal channels, celebrating environmental milestones and awareness days, and engagement of leadership on the topic. 
  15. In the context of the commitment the term investments refers to endowments/investments held by charitable trusts (rather than grants/awards they make).