Charter
There is under a decade to act to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
To honour the Paris Agreement and to limit the average global temperature rise to well below 2°C (endeavouring to keep it below 1.5°C), we must reduce global carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050. Professionals have a duty to protect the public interest and are stepping up to help secure a sustainable future with a sense of urgency.
As professional bodies, our registrants and members look to us to provide strong leadership, providing up-to-date technical & ethical guidance and advocating for their work & that of the wider profession. Many professional bodies have already responded with a high level of ambition through the UN-backed Race to Zero campaign and its partner initiatives like the Pledge to Net Zero.
Building on these initiatives, this charter aims to leverage greater collective ambition through interdisciplinary coordination; in particular:
The need to act now means today’s workforce is critical for a successful transition to a net zero economy. We can ensure they are prepared with up-to-date continuing professional development (CPD) resources; we aim to work together to ensure a holistic approach and develop a common language of sustainability between professions.
In light of these opportunities for action, we pledge to:
Chart the path to sustainability for our members, by:
- Developing Climate Action Plans setting out how we will support and enable our members to achieving practice in line with the Paris Agreement and UN Sustainable Development Goals,
- Reporting on our participation and progress towards Action Plan targets publicly each year,
- Sharing resources to ensure the Action Plans are based in current, holistic expertise;
Speak with a unified voice to and with professional bodies, government and the public by:
- Creating a professional bodies forum for interdisciplinary learning, cooperation and action,
- Championing the role and representation of professionals in climate action to government,
- Growing our voice by inviting our international counterpart bodies to join us.
Empower and inspire our members to drive sustainable growth, by:
- Surveying our members to understand their sustainability resource and training needs,
- Jointly providing a set of common CPD tools and principles, smoothing the development of CPD resources, for each profession, that account for interdisciplinary sustainability issues,
- Making plans and taking rapid action to reduce our emissions in line with 1.5 °C of warming;