Eleven amazing things you did for the climate in 2023
It’s been our biggest year of climate action yet, and it’s all down to you.
We’re winding down for a rest at the end of another huge year of climate action, but before we do - we wanted to look back at everything we’ve achieved together in 2023.
All of this happens because thousands of people like you have chipped in to deliver positive, practical climate action. If you can afford it, please consider setting up a gift to the climate to take this critical work forward in 2024.
Here’s what we did together in 2023:
We won on wind.
After thousands of you flooded your MPs inboxes in support of onshore wind, we finally won a relaxation of the planning rules which were blocking this cheap, clean energy. It’s not the full lift of the ban we wanted, but it means new clean energy projects can come forward - benefiting communities up and down the country.
2. We’ve put thousands more trees in the ground.
We kicked off the year by getting thousands of new trees in the ground all across the UK from the west of Wales to the north of Scotland. Working with climate friendly farmers in rural areas, dozens of you rolled up your sleeves and got spades in the ground to draw down carbon, boost biodiversity and increase resilience to flooding.
3. We brought clean air to millions more people.
We’re proud of the role we played in winning the expanded ULEZ in London, bringing cleaner air to millions more people, and creating the biggest urban clean air zone in the world. Thousands of you showed your support at every stage, signing petitions, responding to consultations, and having conversations about clean air.
4. We trained up a new generation of fixers.
Our Fixing Factory has been on the high street for over a year, and we’ve brought hundreds of people through its doors to learn how to fix things from hair dryers to air fryers. This has cut tonnes of electronic waste from entering landfill, while also giving loads of young people real, accredited skills in repair.
5. We fought back against harmful SUV ads - and won!
In an absolutely landmark ruling, we successfully got a Toyota advert banned on environmental grounds, paving the way for more success in the future. Thanks to all of you who have been calling on your councillors to adopt a local policy against high carbon advertising, which is being implemented in more and more places.
6. We published research that’ll help more communities get cleaner, safer streets.
The polling is still very clear: people love calmer roads and cleaner air. Despite the culture wars and conspiracy theories, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods have gotten more and more popular. And we’ve played our part in the public conversation, publishing a range of new academic research showing the impacts and benefits of calming our roads.
7. We brought 24 new organisations into the slow travel movement.
Our employee benefit scheme Climate Perks gives workers paid journey days to travel by land and sea instead of by plane, and we’ve brought 24 new organisations on board. It was so amazing to see so many of you at a host of music festivals this summer at our pop up low carbon travel agency, and we hope you’re all planning some fun rail travel for 2024!
8. We showed that the government’s aviation strategy simply won’t work, and proposed a solution that will get the UK back on track.
We worked with our friends at Chatham House to produce a landmark piece of research which shows how much flying we need to cut to stay on track for net zero. Spoiler: the people who fly most need to fly a lot less, and most of us can stay the same as we are. Next year, we’re taking the government to court to get their aviation plans back on track!
9. We exposed the truth about private jets.
Our research exposed the huge climate impact or private jets and the inadequacies in how they are taxed; those who are pollute the most are paying the least! Our report brought the issue to light - and even Gary Lineker agreed that we should just ban these polluting flights!
10. We built our first ever permanent parklet.
After a few years of bringing pop up parklets to the kerbside of streets in some of our most congested cities, we finally worked with a local community organisation to permanently reclaim a car parking space. We loved our launch event with live music, food to share, and hundreds of people enjoying the new space on their street, and we can’t wait to help communities across the UK get parklets in 2024.
11. We got our climate board game in the shops.
A few years ago, hundreds of you chipped in to bring our climate board game to life, kicking off hundreds of fun conversations around tables up and down the country, as you played to make a completely sustainable city. Last year, we were approached by a games publisher, and now you can find an extremely beautiful version of Carbon City Zero on the shelf of a store near you!
It’s been a tough year for climate action in many ways. Our government is going backwards on its commitments, while others are trying to turn common sense into a culture war.
But the best antidote to people trying to polarise the public on climate is to come together and take action - and that’s exactly what we’ve done this year.
If you want to do one last amazing thing for the climate in 2023, you could set up a regular gift to the climate which would allow us to do all of this again in 2024 - and even more!
However you’re spending the end of year, we hope you have a joyful and restful time. We’ll see you in 2024, ready for our biggest year of climate action yet.
Thank you for everything you do for the climate. We couldn’t do it without you.
