This Early Years Climate & Sustainability Action Plan has been designed to support nurseries in meeting the Department for Education’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy expectations without adding unnecessary paperwork or workload.
The plan provides a clear, termly structure for identifying climate priorities, recording actions, monitoring impact, and reviewing progress. It supports leaders to demonstrate intent, implementation and impact in a way that is realistic, manageable, and appropriate for Early Years settings.
Rather than lengthy audits or policies, this action plan focuses on small, meaningful actions that can be embedded into everyday practice, routines, and curriculum delivery.
 
This action plan supports settings to:
Appoint and record a Climate & Sustainability Lead
Identify climate priorities such as energy use, waste reduction, biodiversity, and climate awareness through the curriculum
Record clear actions and responsibilities
Show how children are involved through Understanding the World
Monitor and review progress with light-touch evidence
Confidently explain climate and sustainability work to Ofsted or the Local Authority
What’s included:
Climate & Sustainability Action Plan overview
Planned actions for the term
Children, curriculum and climate awareness planning
Monitoring and review of actions
Next-term climate and sustainability planning
This resource is suitable for nurseries, pre-schools, and Early Years settings and can be used termly to support ongoing improvement and inspection readiness.