Sustainability: role of the link governor

Find out how to carry out your role as a sustainability link governor effectively. Learn what the role entails and use our questions to hold leaders to account.

Last reviewed on 31 March 2025
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Contents
  1. Be clear on what 'sustainability' is for your school or trust
  2. Know your role
  3. Monitor sustainability effectively
  4. Download our monitoring questions to ask

Be clear on what 'sustainability' is for your school or trust

The Department for Education (DfE) released a strategy in April 2022 to improve the education sector’s response to climate change by 2030. Read a summary of this strategy here.

It can feel overwhelming when you first start to think about sustainability. Your school should have a climate action plan in place already or be working on one soon – the DfE's strategy specifies that schools should have this in place 'by 2025'. Find details of the climate action plan in the guidance on sustainability leadership and climate action plans.

Decarbonisation, such as finding ways to be more energy efficient and taking action to reduce carbon emissions Adaptation and resilience, for example taking action to reduce