Freedom Leisure, the UK’s first leisure operator to be accredited as a Carbon Literate Organisation, has taken part in the annual International Carbon Literacy Action Day, hosted by the Carbon Literacy Project, with notable key note speakers including Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband.
Freedom Leisure has set a new benchmark for sustainability in the public leisure sector through its continued actions and investments in energy and resource efficiency and by becoming the first leisure organisation to become an accredited Carbon Literate Organisation by the Carbon Literacy Project.
The not-for-profit leisure trust was invited to take part in the International Carbon Literacy Action Day [CLAD] which is the world’s largest climate education and action training event of its kind. From every corner of the globe, thousands of people of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities came together to undergo Carbon Literacy training, catalysing action on climate change and delivering positive change wherever they are.
Following our accreditation as the UK’s first leisure operator to be a Carbon Literate Organisation, we were delighted to take part in CLAD and I am very proud of my team and the work we do to safeguard our planet and can demonstrate that we are having a real and meaningful impact on climate change within our sector.
Ivan Horsfall Turner
The theme of this year’s Action Day was Climate Inclusion. To celebrate this, Freedom Leisure involved a group of four multi-national students from the Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, who are currently working with the leisure trust to collaborate on a joint Net-Zero research project on Managing Change for Sustainable Developments, with a focus on Net Zero practices in leisure centres. The students intend to take what they have learned back to their campus and communities in the Netherlands - where although Net Zero is a major goal, the Carbon Literacy conversation is not yet as advanced. Their pledged actions will influence behaviours and practices at their university, inspiring further actions with unlimited results.
This is a very significant event in the global climate change calendar and aligns perfectly with the opening of COP29, the pinnacle climate summit of the year. While world leaders gather to negotiate on climate policy, we are empowering our colleagues to act.
Angela Brown