Record numbers of environmental charities commit to racial diversity in bid to boost representation
The third annual RACE (Racial Action for the Climate Emergency) Report, the UK’s largest analysis of the racial diversity of the environmental charity and funder sector, was published on 3 February 2025.
The latest figures reveal record engagement in racial diversity reporting, with a total of 161 environmental charity organisations representing over 28,600 employees submitting data. This is more than double the number of staff represented in last year’s report and more than triple the number in 2022’s inaugural report – highlighting the growing momentum behind the initiative.
The RACE Report aims to boost transparency and encourage action among UK environmental charities and funders when it comes to the racial and ethnic diversity of their workforce and governing bodies.
Despite an increase in data submissions in 2024, including a rise in the number of larger organisations (250+ employees) sharing their data, racial diversity in the environmental charity sector remains substantially below the UK workforce average, with 4.5% of staff across the sector identifying as people of colour (POC) and other racially or ethnically minoritised groups, compared to 16% of the UK workforce nationally.
Whilst this figure is lower than the 6% recorded in 2023, the different, far larger sample size of this year’s survey means the two data points are not statistically comparable. Notably, the picture is more nuanced when organisational size is taken into account, with smaller organisations reporting far more diversity across the workforces:
● 14.1% of staff in organisations with 10-49 employees identify as POC and other ethnically minoritised groups
● Only 1.8% of staff in organisations with 500-1,000 employees identify as POC and other ethnically minoritised groups
By averaging the percentage of staff in each ethnicity group across all participating organisations – therefore giving each organisation equal weight – the results are more positive; with 11% of staff identifying as people of colour or from other ethnically minoritised groups.
This highlights the journey some larger organisations still have to take to create more diverse teams and the longer timelines which may be involved in seeing these ambitions come to fruition.
The NBN Trust is proud to have contributed to the RACE Report for the first time and is one of the 161 organisations who are represented in the data it contains. See the NBN Trust’s Transparency Card.