Energy & Climate
Safe temperatures in schools
Extreme heat forces more school closures, highlighting costs of Big Oil’s climate deception.
25 August 2025
As schools across the country head back for the new academic year, Let’s Go Zero – the national campaign helping more than 7,000 schools to become zero carbon – is calling on school leaders and staff to put climate action at the top of their to-do lists.
The Department for Education (DfE) has made it clear: by the end of 2025, every education setting in England should have a practical, holistic climate action plan in place.
These plans will help schools cut emissions, save money on energy and prepare for the growing impacts of climate change.
To make this achievable, Let’s Go Zero is offering free expert support from its network of Climate Action Advisors, who work with schools to create tailored action plans and guide them through funding, practical measures and community engagement.
Schools are already feeling the effects of climate change – from heatwaves and flooding to rising energy and food bills.
With expert support, schools are already making progress; to date, £1.6 million in funding has been unlocked to support schools’ climate ambitions.
More than 1,200 schools have created a Climate Action Plan with Let’s Go Zero, and more than 5,500 have received support from a Climate Action Advisor.
Schools have saved 6,164 tonnes of CO2e and are expected to save another 45,990 tonnes of CO2e based on the actions they’re putting into place as part of Climate Action Plans developed in partnership with Let’s Go Zero.
The DfE’s Climate Action framework calls on schools to develop plans across four pillars by the end of the year: Adaptation & resilience, Biodiversity, Climate education & green careers and Decarbonisation.
The goal is to prepare schools for climate impacts like heatwaves and flooding, improve school grounds and connect students to nature, embed sustainability into the curriculum, inspire learners for the future and cut emissions through energy efficiency, sustainable transport and low-carbon choices.
Let’s Go Zero Climate Action Advisors are already helping schools align their plans with these pillars, turning high-level policy into practical action in classrooms, corridors, canteens and playgrounds.
Let’s Go Zero is coordinated by the climate solutions charity Ashden. It brings together UK schools, college and nurseries that want to become zero carbon by 2030, and has a track record of supporting schools to reduce emissions, save money and inspire students.
More than 7,190 schools, colleges and nurseries in the UK have signed up, building a nationwide movement that shows young people their voices matter and their schools can lead the way on climate action.
‘This back-to-school season is the moment for every headteacher and sustainability lead to get serious about climate action. The government has set the expectation – every school should have a plan in place by the end of 2025. But no school has to do this alone. Our Climate Action Advisors are already helping thousands of schools turn ambition into action, and we’re ready to help thousands more.’
ALEX GREEN
Head of Let’s Go Zero
Teachers who have worked with Let’s Go Zero Advisors say the support is transformative.
Central Park School in Newham, East London, is leading a green transformation with support from Let’s Go Zero Climate Action Advisor Holly Campbell.
‘When Holly visited last summer, we found our playground tarmac was over 40°C – on a 27°C day’, says Shannon Griffin, Year 5 teacher and sustainability lead. ‘Without shade, children overheat and struggle to learn.’
To tackle this, the school planted nine new trees in its once-bare playground. ‘They’ve transformed the space’, says Ms Griffin. ‘They’re full of foliage and flowers – the children are thrilled, and visitors constantly comment on the change.’
This work is vital in Newham, where urban areas are heating 29% faster than rural ones due to the Urban Heat Island effect.
Inspired, Shannon has expanded the school’s climate action plan – introducing School Streets, water-saving measures, food sustainability projects, recycling and new initiatives such as composting, a green wall, birdhouses and staff carpooling.
Ms Griffin says the Let’s Go Zero programme gave her the structure and momentum she needed. ‘Doing an audit and writing it down made a huge difference. Holly brought it all together — giving us ideas, helping with funding and offering real guidance. Without that, it would’ve been so much harder.’
Karen Lambert, Head of Stathern School in Melton Mowbray Leicestershire, was also supported by a Climate Action Advisor when she created a climate action plan earlier this year.
She says: ‘We made progress quite quickly over a few months. Our Climate Action Advisor Jelly Moring went through our carbon footprint with us – things like how draughts from our windows and doors were leading to higher energy usage. This led me to write sustainability into our three-year development plan. It felt timely and good – I know the government wants us to have a climate action plan in 2025 and I like to be on the front foot.’
In Coventry and Warwickshire, Will Keddie, Sustainability Lead for the Finham Park Multi-Academy Trust of eight schools, and Head of Finham Park 2* secondary school, is full of praise for Let’s Go Zero.
It helped to conduct an energy audit and use monitoring tools to trigger a drop of up to 14% in Finham Park 2’s energy use and related fuel costs in the second term of taking action – reducing CO2 emissions by 25%. The rest of the schools in the Multi-Academy Trust are now following suit.
Extreme heat forces more school closures, highlighting costs of Big Oil’s climate deception.
Working with governments to catalyse private finance into the UK’s 32,149 schools can close the £16.3bn investment gap.
Schools take on the zero carbon pledge to transform inside and outside spaces to save energy, money and wildlife.
Free Carbon Literacy training is being made available for headteachers and sustainability leads in schools.
