Our News

On Thursday 14th November 2024, we staged the fourth annual International Carbon Literacy Action Day – another historic day for Carbon Literacy!

The Action Day is the largest mass climate education-and-action training event of its kind globally, where learners from all walks of life, backgrounds, sectors, ages and nations dedicated their time to completing Carbon Literacy training to address climate change.

For its fourth year, the Action Day aligned with the UN COP29 Climate Change Conference. As the world’s attention turned to the global climate negotiations, we grasped the opportunity to catalyse relevant climate education and mobilise impactful action at this critical time. So, while global leaders deliberated on climate policy in Baku, Carbon Literacy learners worldwide stood together to act, showcasing the power of collective action in shaping a low-carbon future.

The results

A record-breaking total of 3,926 individuals completed Carbon Literacy training on the fourth Carbon Literacy Action Day! We are completely astonished by this new record, as this result sees a 70% increase from the amount trained in 2023, and more than all previous Action Day results combined.

These learners will go on to become formally certified as Carbon Literate, and no matter their position or skill level, each individual will have a significant impact on their carbon footprint, reducing their impact in a personal and professional way, and influencing their peers to follow suit.

As a result of their certification, 7,852 impactful actions will be pledged by these learners to tackle climate change, and will go on to save approximately 14,000 tonnes of CO2e. Additionally, 141 training providers took part, who delivered 130 unique courses, and 235 organisations were represented, spanning 29 sectors of society.

This year saw our most international and globally impactful event yet with 22 nations from across 5 continents involved, with learners stemming from, and training taking place in Australia, Canada, China, England, Hungary, Ireland, India, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Malta, Mongolia, Northern Ireland, Philippines, Scotland, Spain, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam and Wales.

Speaking on the impact of training a diverse learner cohort, Gill Harris of Planet Fox reflected on delivering her first-ever course, “The CLP asked me for two complimentary spots for participants from Public Lab, Mongolia (three attended). Most of my examples were UK-based, but I found links and resources for them to use which were more relevant. However, it worked both ways. Hearing about the challenges Mongolia faces in shifting mindset to a low-carbon lifestyle was enlightening and it helped to facilitate wider discussions among the participants, especially in the breakout rooms. They were amazing and I am actually the one grateful to have had the opportunity to meet them and be part of my first-ever Carbon Literacy delivery!”

Witnessing the impact

From 17:00-18:30GMT on the Action Day, we commenced the CLAD World Tour Webinar to invite those who participated in the day, and those in the wider Carbon Literacy community, to join together as the training day culminated.

Held on Zoom, this session offered us the opportunity to witness the diversity of training initiatives that took place on the day, as we were joined by inspiring guest speakers from ZuriPlanet Africa, Edith Cowan University, Nissan AMIEO, Government of Jersey, Permaculture for Innovation, Sustainability Centric, Climate Hub International, Manchester City Council and Volkswagen Group UK. Through their conversations, we caught an glimpse into just some of the training initiatives that contributed to our event theme of climate inclusion, as our guests highlighted the impact that Carbon Literacy has and will continue to have, in their organisations, communities and beyond.

And through an exciting development, the Action Day was made even more memorable as Ed Miliband, UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, formally backed the Carbon Literacy Action Day, live from Azerbaijan where he attended COP29. His message signalled a powerful alignment with government leaders in tackling the climate crisis. His support not only amplified the scale and impact of this year’s Action Day event, but also sends a powerful message underscoring the critical role that grassroots climate action plays in tackling climate change on a global scale.

A word of thanks

Each year, the Action Day continues to build, spread and grow at speed, and this would not be possible without our dedicated, passionate and supportive Carbon Literacy community. We’d like to extend a huge and heartfelt thank you to all of you who took part in the Action Day and who came together from all over the world to take action and celebrate with us as we strive towards a stable, safe and zero-carbon future. We owe our sincerest gratitude to our fantastic team of CLAD volunteers who are offering their time to process the extra surge in applications at this time of year, and to our dedicated staff team, to which we are incredibly grateful.

So far in 2024, we have witnessed exceptional growth once again, starting the year with 81,000 certified learners and now, in the final month of the year with over 114,000. The Action Day continues to play an important role in our growth here at the Project, by driving an increased level of involvement and inspiring immediate engagement in Carbon Literacy. And most importantly of all, it allows individuals, organisations and communities to tackle climate change in the most relevant way for them. So, despite the magnitude of this year’s event, we see no signs of slowing down into 2025.

Keep an eye out for the winners of the CLAD Catalyst Award, and the date for CLAD 2025, both of which will be coming very soon!

If you’d like to be part of the Action Day 2025, you can express your interest by emailing CLAD@carbonliteracy.com.

If you are interested in the Action Day but aren’t yet engaged with Carbon Literacy, we welcome you to get in touch so you can begin your Carbon Literacy journey today.