Our News

2024 was another truly extraordinary year for The Carbon Literacy Project. Thanks to the unmatched hard work and dedication of our incredible team, including our volunteers, interns, Trustees and Carbon Literacy trainers, we experienced another groundbreaking year, witnessing the growth and expansion of Carbon Literacy at a rate never seen before.

We certified a massive 38,152 learners in 2024, catapulting us past the 100,000 milestone! This is a 48% increase of the total certified at the end of 2023. To put these numbers into more understandable terms, we certified an average of over 104 learners each day of the year, or 3,180 each month – a truly record-breaking statistic!

We also welcomed 424 new Carbon Literacy Facilitators, 46 Carbon Literacy Trainers and four new Carbon Literacy Consultants into the Carbon Literacy trainer community. We accredited 53 Carbon Literate Organisations and engaged a further 2,304 organisations. Moreover, a total of 199 newly accredited Carbon Literacy courses were delivered across 10 new nations.

Continue reading for a recap of some of our highlights from 2024, as well as some key dates for 2025.

Launch of the Carbon Literate Educator Accreditation

On 23rd January, we launched the brand-new Carbon Literate Educator (CLE) accreditation, designed to celebrate and support educators in embedding Carbon Literacy into their educational institutions. Developed with input from leading colleges and universities, CLE builds on the success of our Carbon Literate Organisation (CLO) framework and provides a tailored, impactful way for educators to upskill staff, students, and communities while driving climate action.

Read about the Launch of Carbon Literate Educator.

Fifth CLO Awards

On 13th June, we celebrated our fifth and largest Carbon Literate Organisation (CLO) Awards at Manchester’s Contact Theatre. We celebrated the achievements of over 100 new CLOs across all kinds of sectors embodying our new tagline: ‘Climate Action Where You Are .’ The event was a reminder of the incredible impact that dedicated individuals and organisations can achieve when working toward meaningful change.

Read more about the 2024 CLO Awards.

Winner of the Unlock Net Zero Awards

On 27th June, we proudly took home the Skills & Training Award at the Unlock Net Zero Awards during Housing 2024 in Manchester. This achievement recognises the impact of our Social Housing Toolkit courses including both staff and new householders course providing tailored, ready-to-use training materials for social housing staff to help understand climate change and its impacts, and how to communicate it meaningfully.

Read more about Carbon Literacy Wins at Unlock Net Zero Awards.

Climate Pioneer Award at SE100

On 16th July, The Carbon Literacy Project won the Climate Pioneer award at the prestigious SE100 Social Business Awards 2024! This unique accolade recognises pioneering organisations that lead by example in the climate movement and inspire others to follow.

Read more about Carbon Literacy awarded as Climate Pioneer.

100k Milestone Celebration

On 23rd July, we celebrated reaching the milestone of 100,000 Carbon Literate learners with a special event at the National Football Museum. Surrounded by many of those who contributed to this milestone – trainers, volunteers, trustees, CLO representatives, founders, and of course, CLP team members, we reflected on the journey that brought us to this incredible achievement.

Read more about 100,000 Carbon Literate Citizens and the 100,000 Milestone Celebration.

First Ever Carbon Literacy Trainer Awards

On 11th September 2024, we hosted our first-ever Trainer Celebration Evening, honouring the exceptional contributions of our certified Trainers, Consultants, and Facilitators. We also recognised the incredible work of our Carbon Literacy Training Organisations (CLTO) that have embedded Carbon Literacy across various sectors.

Read more about the First-Ever Carbon Literacy Trainer Awards.

Manchester Carbon Literate City Launch

On 2nd October, the Manchester community gathered to kick off a brand-new initiative: Manchester Carbon Literate City! Coordinated by Manchester City Council in partnership with The Carbon Literacy Project, this effort aims to train and certify 15% of the city’s population—85,349 residents—as Carbon Literate, positioning Manchester to become the first Carbon Literate City by 2027. With such an ambitious target, this is an exciting vehicle for cultural change, encouraging cross-sector collaboration and carbon-reducing innovation.

Read more about the Manchester Carbon Literate City Launch.

First Carbon Literate Educator Awards

On 16th October, we hosted the inaugural Carbon Literate Educator (CLE) Awards at HOME in Manchester, celebrating the achievements of the first cohort of 15 Carbon Literate Educators. During the ceremony, 14 Bronze awards were presented to universities and colleges across England and as far afield as Australia. Barnsley College received the first Silver CLE for its outstanding efforts in embedding Carbon Literacy across its community.

Read more about the first ever Carbon Literate Educator Awards.

Fourth Carbon Literacy Action Day

On 14th November, we held the fourth annual International Carbon Literacy Action Day (CLAD), which saw an astonishing 3,926 individuals, from 141 training providers delivering 130 unique courses. This year saw our most international and globally impactful event yet with 22 nations from across five continents taking part in and completing their Carbon Literacy training.

Read more about the 2024 Carbon Literacy Action Day.

Fundraising Initiatives

Throughout 2024, we held several exciting fundraisers to raise essential funds to further our work.

In April, we launched the Empower Global Communities campaign as part of the Green Match Fund, raising funds to expand access to Carbon Literacy in the Global South and catalyse climate action on an international scale. Later in the year, from December 3rd to 10th, we participated in the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge with the Carbon Literacy Snowball Effect, surpassing our fundraising target to bring Carbon Literacy to new sectors and more communities in 2025.

These campaigns were instrumental in advancing our mission, raising approximately £18,500 in total! These funds have been reinvested directly into the Project to ensure the continued expansion and impact of Carbon Literacy worldwide.

Read more about our fundraising campaigns.

Looking Ahead to 2025

While this has been a transformational and historic year both for us at the Project and for climate action, we know that we need to do more, more quickly, in order to rise to the pressing challenge of climate change. We need to engage and embed Carbon Literacy in more organisations, communities and locations, providing citizens everywhere with the tools and knowledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

2024 has been a transformational and historic year for us and for climate action. Reaching 100,000 certified learners is a landmark achievement—one that belongs to you, the Carbon Literacy community.

To our volunteers, staff (past and present), recognised Partners, dedicated trainers, and the thousands of organisations and individuals who’ve embraced Carbon Literacy: thank you for making this possible.

But we cannot stop here. The challenge of climate change demands more work to be done in this critical decade for climate action. That’s why we’ve set an ambitious target to certify 1 million Carbon Literate citizens by 2030.

Can you help us achieve our aim?

If you know someone seeking to reduce the carbon footprint of their workplace, school, or community, or educate their people on climate change and solutions, connect them with us. Together, we can accelerate the journey to a zero-carbon future.

Important Upcoming Updates

10th January
Latest open Carbon Literacy courses

23rd January
Digital and Tech In-Person Launch

24th February
Cultural Sector Shareable Course Launch

22nd to 29th April
Green Match Fund

12th June
CLO Awards 2025

Autumn (TBC)
Carbon Literacy Trainer Awards

October (TBC)
Carbon Literacy Educator Awards

November (TBC)
Fifth Carbon Literacy Action Day

2nd to 9th December (TBC)
Christmas Challenge

Events & Conferences

15th to 17th January
Better Business Summit 

5th & 6th February
Sustainability Tech Expo

26th & 27th March
Edie25

Keep your eyes peeled for more important dates for your diary coming in the weeks and months ahead!