Caring for nature
Learn about our work on nature, climate and sustainability, and find out what you can do to make a difference.
Protecting nature and heritage: Our Climate Action Transition Plan
For 130 years, we’ve cared for some of the UK’s most cherished landscapes and historic sites – but climate change is putting them at risk. In line with our new strategy, ‘People and nature thriving’, our Climate Action Transition Plan sets out our ambitions and how we will achieve them.
Our early work suggests that 100% of the places we care for are at risk of one or more climate hazards, from chronic impacts such as weathering and storm erosion, to more frequent extreme events like flooding, droughts and wildfires. At the same time, climate change is also reshaping how we work, driving up energy and supply-chain costs and influencing how we welcome visitors.
As Europe’s largest conservation charity, we view it as our duty to take action to protect the sites in our care and to reduce our own emissions.
What is a Climate Action Transition Plan?
A transition plan sets out how a business will adapt its operations, assets and overall strategy to meet science-based climate goals.
As a charity, we're not required to produce a transition plan – but we choose to. By following climate science, we want to demonstrate leadership, accountability and our commitment to protecting people and places.
Our Climate Action Transition Plan
With the right action now, we can play our part in the UK’s climate transition and protect the places we care for.
Our climate action commitments:
- To reduce all the emissions we produce whether directly from the energy we use, or indirectly through working in partnership with others. By the year 2030, we will only release as much carbon as we're annually removing.
- To do this, we will also use our land to capture and store more carbon, primarily through establishing new trees and woods, and restoring degraded peatland.
- To be resilient and adaptable to a changing climate in every choice we make.
- Engage others – telling our story widely to inspire action from supporters and policymakers.
How we’re making it happen
We’re transforming the way we work across five key areas:
Land use and farming
By planting 20 million trees, restoring peatlands and expanding nature-based solutions, we’re capturing carbon while helping wildlife to thrive. We’re also working closely with our partners and tenant farmers to transition to sustainable agriculture, reduce emissions and enhance biodiversity.
Buildings and infrastructure
We’re reducing emissions from over 500 historic buildings by improving energy efficiency, installing more renewable energy schemes and reducing reliance on fossil fuels for heating and operations.
Investments
We’re aligning our financial decisions with climate goals, ensuring that our investment portfolio actively supports sustainability and does not contribute to high-carbon industries.
Visitor business and our operations
We’re cutting emissions across our retail, food and holiday businesses while maintaining excellent visitor experiences. This includes transitioning to electric outdoor machinery, sourcing more sustainable products and reducing waste.
Travel and transport
We’re electrifying our vehicle fleet, enhancing public and active travel options for visitors and staff and working to reduce emissions from commuting and business travel.
Achieving net zero by 2030 and helping nature recover will take collective effort. Meaningful action depends on collaboration with our partners who share our ambitions. By working together, we can help people and nature thrive for generations to come.
‘When we say for everyone, for ever – we feel it deeply. Climate change is critically relevant to our mission, and will be a defining challenge in the coming decades and centuries.’
A quote by Hilary McGradyNational Trust Director-General
What have we done so far?
We’re tackling the causes of climate change by reducing emissions, capturing and storing carbon on the land we look after and advocating for Government to adopt policies that will help us all look after the places you love to visit.
Some of our recent key achievements include:
- Reaching our target to generate 50 per cent of our own energy from renewable sources, against a 2008 baseline. The second phase of the programme will further reduce fossil fuels at 100 of the highest emitting buildings we look after.
- Working to create and restore 25,000 hectares of priority habitats has increased the amount of carbon we remove and store from the atmosphere, improving our net carbon position.
- Over half of our places have started to map their climate adaptation pathway, identifying their specific risks and actions that they can take in the short, medium and long term.
- Rolling out an internal Climate Action Organisational Development Plan, with over 1000 staff completing our climate e-learning.
- Reducing our overall net emissions by 31 per cent against our baseline of 2019/20.
What climate action looks like
Across the National Trust, we’re already tackling climate change. Here are just a few examples of how we’re putting our ambitions into practice.
Delivering for carbon, nature and people at Lord’s Park Farm
At Lord’s Park Farm, a former dairy farm in Wales, we’ve partnered with new tenants who share our vision for nature recovery and climate action. Their regenerative farming methods, such as peat-free vegetable production, have cut emissions by 89 per cent, while new woodlands help remove up to 100 tCO₂e (tonnes of Carbon Dioxide estimated) a year.
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Looking ahead
Our journey to net zero is well underway, built on decades of environmental and climate action. But we know the path ahead will be hard, and we’ll need to learn, adapt and lead boldly. Climate science, policy, and technology will keep evolving, and so will we. We'll regularly review and refine our Transition Plan, making sure it remains ambitious, science-led and effective.
Most importantly, we will continue to act – working with our staff and volunteers, partners and communities to drive change that really means something. Together, we can protect the landscapes, historic places and wildlife we all cherish. By acting now, we can help shape a future where nature and people thrive for generations to come.
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