England
Sustainability lead and climate action plan
Official wording, responsibilities and review duties.
Requirement and scope
Choose the governance type; academy and maintained duties differ. Choose a phase; confirm age and provision conditions.
Maintained school
Expected [1]
not stated in the source. Website publication: not stated in the source. Check access and disclosure duties separately.
- Source-established phases
- Primary, Secondary, All-through, Special
- Source-established school types
- Mainstream school, Special school
- EYFS condition
- No separate EYFS condition stated
- Accountable
- not stated in the source
- Approval
- not stated in the source
- Operational owner
- not stated in the source
- Review cycle
- set by the school
Independent schools and pupil referral units are outside this catalogue’s supported governance mapping.
Academy or free school
Expected [2]
not stated in the source. Website publication: not stated in the source. Check access and disclosure duties separately.
- Source-established phases
- Primary, Secondary, All-through, Special
- Source-established school types
- Mainstream school, Special school
- EYFS condition
- No separate EYFS condition stated
- Accountable
- not stated in the source
- Approval
- not stated in the source
- Operational owner
- not stated in the source
- Review cycle
- set by the school
Independent schools and pupil referral units are outside this catalogue’s supported governance mapping.
The current guides recommend a sustainability lead and climate action plan. This is not labelled a universal statutory policy or website duty.
Official wording
7.16 Sustainability leadership and climate change action plans in education
Every school should nominate a sustainability lead and have a climate action plan to deliver this.
Maintained schools: governance guide · Reviewed 2026-10-26
7.14 Sustainability leadership and climate action plans in education
Every trust and school should nominate a sustainability lead and have a climate action plan.
Academy trusts: governance guide · Reviewed 2026-10-26
Sources and updates
Official evidence reviewed 2026-10-26. Check the source edition and conditions before acting.
Maintained schools: governance guide
Reviewed edition matches. Source text matches the reviewed edition.
- Reviewed on
- 2026-10-26
- Reviewed version
- 2026-07-15T15:01:39+01:00
- Last checked
- 2026-10-27T11:00:36.203Z
- Reviewed text digest (SHA-256)
e52a8a3de45c63b134d0ebf973be1ac134e940f50648449b0251fde69c0d7046- Official content identity
- 5e3468ca-6e6f-4b22-926e-9f851ba2d630
- Official content digest (SHA-256)
1d3f2f6c58228e0a50a9591032bcf659d1f5c1c9da375fc1053abb88fdb64829
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maintained-schools-governance-guide/maintained-schools-governance-guide
Academy trusts: governance guide
Reviewed edition matches. Source text matches the reviewed edition.
- Reviewed on
- 2026-10-26
- Reviewed version
- 2026-07-20T12:52:21+01:00
- Last checked
- 2026-10-27T11:00:36.203Z
- Reviewed text digest (SHA-256)
11ac340ef6b86f38865ce0ece27f1d47949e810ddfde066af3779588c1d1b8c2- Official content identity
- 21a3425c-77ff-4fae-b81d-42b5214b2ad2
- Official content digest (SHA-256)
b99d266b3aa58de32e2f1428cb9a45065a6e52e26c65344e9df5ecacac19b1a4
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-trust-governance-guide/academy-trust-governance-guide
Guidance, not legal advice. Local checks are not a compliance judgement; other duties may apply.