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What do the fashion industry, Vatican City, Canada and South Kesteven District Council have in common? The answer is that they’ve all declared a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_emergency_declaration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate emergency</a>. And they aren’t the only ones. Darebin, Australia <a href="https://www.caceonline.org/history.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first declared a climate emergency</a> in 2016. Since then over 1,900 local governments in 34 countries have made climate emergency declarations (as of June 2021). In fact, <a href="https://www.cedamia.org/global/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">around a billion people</a> live in places that have declared a climate emergency — that’s one in ten people on the planet.
Declaring a climate emergency is important as it amounts to an official admission that climate change exists and that more must be done to stop it. And of course, it’s the action that’s more important than the acknowledgement. The climate emergency movement is reaching something of a tipping point now. It’s becoming a launchpad for real change, rather than a mere symbolic gesture. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than with the emerging trend for industries to join countries and councils in declaring.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the industries that have declared a climate emergency, what it means for those industries and how other businesses and industries can get involved too.

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<a href="https://www.tourismdeclares.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency</a> is a global community of 441 tourism organisations, companies and professionals, committed to delivering a Climate Action Plan with the aim of halving emissions by 2030.
As the industry sets out to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, it also has a golden opportunity to reset, reimagine and drive positive change. This initiative advocates for climate action through its networks, helps anyone in the industry to access the right knowledge and tools, and brings its leaders together to collaborate.
Any organisation or individual working in tourism can join by making a <a href="https://www.tourismdeclares.com/how-to-join" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declaration</a> on their website and signing the Glasgow Declaration on <a href="https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/programmes/sustainable-tourism/glasgow-declaration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Climate Action in Tourism</a>.

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Launched in July 2019, <a href="https://www.musicdeclares.net/gb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Music Declares Emergency</a> is a group of artists, music industry professionals and organisations standing together to declare a climate emergency and call for an immediate government response. 
The group takes a practical, yet creative approach. Their website is full of neat suggestions for how anyone in the industry can <a href="https://musicdeclares.net/gb/take-action" target="_blank" rel="noopener">take action</a>. This is backed up by <a href="https://musicdeclares.net/gb/act/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No Music on a Dead Planet </a>— a campaign run alongside <a href="https://rankin.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rankin</a> and 15 artists to share simple and impactful ways to act on climate change. Anyone can also make a donation, or <a href="https://www.musicdeclares.net/gb/shop" target="_blank" rel="noopener">buy some very cool looking merchandise</a> to support the cause.
Those working in the industry who want to join can <a href="https://musicdeclares.net/gb/declarers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sign the declaration</a>.

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<a href="https://fashion-declares.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fashion Declares</a> is a network of individuals from right across the fashion industry that is focused on fuelling a large-scale, bottom-up movement to create a regenerative new approach to fashion. 
The movement is based on five core commitments: speaking out for urgent action; decarbonisation, restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity; social justice and the just transition; radical transparency and corporate governance; and the regenerative fashion model.
Fashion Declares is committed to equipping its members with tools and resources, while running regular webinars. The group is inviting individuals at all levels to join its grass-roots movement by signing an open letter.

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<a href="https://businessdeclares.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Business Declares </a>is a not-for-profit organisation formed of a coalition of senior leaders from businesses including The Body Shop, Pukka and Good Energy. Their aim is to collaborate to accelerate climate action right across the business sector. 
The group frequently shares resources, runs events, lobbies for regulatory change and facilitates conversations on the complex challenges businesses are facing. They also have an official partnership with the <a href="https://climatechampions.unfccc.int/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UN COP26 Race to Zero Campaign</a>.
When members<a href="https://businessdeclares.com/apply" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> join Business Declares </a>they’re asked to acknowledge their membership on their website, set a net zero target as close as possible to 2030, consider and discuss their Scope 3 impacts, and support ongoing Business Declares advocacy efforts.

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<a href="https://coveringclimatenow.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Covering Climate Now</a> collaborates with journalists to drive more informed reporting on climate change and ensure that the climate is an important part of every newsroom beat. It has also released a <a href="https://coveringclimatenow.org/the-press-and-the-climate-emergency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement declaring a climate emergency</a> and invited all news organisations to sign it. 
The group was co-founded by the Columbia Journalism Review and The Nation in association with The Guardian and WNYC in 2019, and now has over 460 partners.

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<a href="https://www.culturedeclares.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Culture Declares Emergency </a>is an international movement of individuals and organisations in the arts and cultural sector, who have all declared a climate emergency. 
Those who sign up are asked to make a statement about why they’ve declared and what they plan to do, put a kitemark on their website or email, and get involved by joining working groups, attending events and sharing learnings.

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Finally, <a href="https://www.pharmacydeclares.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pharmacy Declares </a>is a group of climate-conscious UK pharmacy professionals calling for organisations across the sector to make their own declarations. They’re also actively pushing for divestments of fossil fuels and positive reinvestments, along with better climate leadership and education in the industry.

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Clearly, business as usual is no longer an option, so it’s inspiring to see so many businesses and industries stepping up to become part of the solution. What is even more inspiring about these examples, is that they go way beyond simply making a statement. This isn’t about PR, it’s about collectively starting something new. These groups are all engineering plans and policies in their industries to bring about real change.
What these groups show more than anything, is that anyone can spark action in their industry. They all started with like minded individuals coming together, putting a stake in the ground and galvanising others to join through their professional networks. It truly is people power in action. All it takes is a handful of industry peers with a strong will and a clear commitment, and a movement can be born. 
If you want to get involved, first start by researching if your industry has already declared a climate emergency. If it has you can join, take part in the movement and call on your colleagues to do the same. If not, start one! As these examples show you don’t need to wait for permission, and there are very few barriers. Judging by the membership of the groups that have already formed, it seems that there are plenty of people in every industry wanting to get involved. “If you build it, they will come” as the saying goes. 
<h3>We’ll leave you with five tips to bear in mind if you’re thinking of declaring a climate emergency: </h3>
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Rally your peers &#8211; Use your industry and organisational networks to their fullest. Try and get declaring a climate emergency to the top of the agenda at your next company board meeting and look for speaking opportunities at industry events. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Bake it into business planning &#8211; Lead the way by basing your business strategy around reversing climate change, shifting business models if needed, and setting big goals to lower your carbon footprint. Many companies are now aiming for net zero by 2030. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Set clear targets &#8211; Any big goal needs clear targets to get there, and they need the full backing of your leadership team. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Make it inspiring &#8211; Many of these groups have beautiful websites and strong brands. This is important as it will give peers a pull to join the cause, and let them wear their membership like a badge of honour. Perhaps even literally! </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Empower your colleagues &#8211; Make it easy for employees, colleagues and peers to take action. From providing open letters and statements to sign, to sharing resources and running events, the transition from buying in to taking action should be easy and seamless.  </li>
</ol>
For more information, you can also <a href="https://pardot.bcorporation.net/climateemergencyplaybook" target="_blank" rel="noopener">download B Lab UK’s playbook</a> for business on how to declare a climate emergency.
<a href="https://ecologi.com/plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sign up today to take real climate action with Ecologi</a>.

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UK Voluntary Carbon Market Guide: Best Practices for Climate Action

The voluntary carbon market plays an important role in corporate climate strategies – but its effectiveness relies on buyers doing due diligence and rigorous quality assessment on each project, as well as placing the purchase of credits in the right place in the climate journey.
To ensure meaningful climate impact, businesses must develop a comprehensive carbon strategy and find ways to fund only high-quality credits in the voluntary carbon market – and this guide shows you how to do so with Ecologi.

<h2>Table of contents</h2>
<ul>
<li>When to buy carbon credits</li>
<li>Our new carbon projects assessment framework</li>
<li>Ecologi&#8217;s core due diligence principles</li>
<li>How Ecologi scores and ranks carbon credit projects</li>
<li>Questions to ask your carbon credit supplier</li>
<li>Take action in the voluntary carbon market</li>
</ul>

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<h2>When should businesses buy carbon credits in the voluntary market?</h2>
Businesses must not use credits in place of making direct, measurable reductions in their emissions. Instead, follow these steps to ensure you buy your carbon credits on the right step of your corporate climate action journey, and in the right way:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Measure your emissions first – to allow you to understand where your business’s emissions are coming from. 
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Set science-based targets and work towards them – set ambitious targets aligned with the SBTi and compatible with the global 1.5ºC warming target.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Beyond value chain mitigation (BVCM) – design your BVCM portfolio to work alongside your decarbonisation plan and address your unabated emissions in each reporting year. Align it with SBTi guidance and the Oxford Principles. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Buy high-quality carbon credits – use this guide to ensure the carbon credits you buy meet rigorous quality standards. Remember, under the SBTi framework you’ll also need permanent carbon removal credits for neutralising your residual emissions when you reach your net-zero date.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Disclose and report transparently – publicly disclose information about your carbon credit purchases, and clearly communicate the limited role of carbon credits in your broader sustainability strategy.</li>
</ol>

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<h2>Ecologi&#8217;s carbon project assessment framework</h2>
In April 2025, we published a report summarising how we assess carbon credit projects against our rigorous proprietary rubric. A snapshot of what goes into our carbon credit project assessment is below, or you <a href="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20250428124112/Ecologi_Whitepaper_A4.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">download the full whitepaper here</a>.

<h2>Carbon project due diligence: Ecologi’s core principles</h2>
At Ecologi, we maintain general due diligence principles which we apply universally across the voluntary carbon market, to support our efforts to supply only high-quality carbon credits.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">ICROA-endorsed standards only – we supply credits exclusively from carbon standards which are ICROA-endorsed.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Responsive to ICVCM decisions – we support the ICVCM’s two-tick approach to providing CCP-Approval to project methodologies, and we go further still, to assess individual projects on their merits and limitations as well.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Keep the carbon credit life cycle as short as possible – 75% of our credits in 2024 came directly from project developers and their nominated dispensaries (as opposed to intermediaries on the secondary market), maximising the proportion of purchase price which goes to the developer.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Locally-appropriate projects only – we take care to ensure that supported projects are being applied in appropriate geographies, where they can have the greatest impact.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Deep project-level scrutiny – our extensive assessment criteria are specific to each type of project, and we assess every project against these criteria, ensuring the project’s specifics have been taken into account.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Methodological consensus – we synthesise data we receive from our partners Sylvera, BeZero Carbon, Calyx Global and Renoster) with our own in-house analysis to uncover where there is consensus about project quality, and improve confidence.</li>
</ul>

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<h2>How to evaluate carbon credits: Ecologi&#8217;s scoring methodology</h2>
We designed a three-layer assessment process which takes into account the merits and limitations of the carbon standard used, the carbon credit methodology used, and of the individual project design.
The tables below summarise some of the data inputs we use at each stage.

<h3>Assessment level: Carbon Standard</h3>
Examples: Gold Standard, Verra, Puro Earth, Isometric, Plan Vivo.

<h3>Assessment level: Methodology (or ‘Protocol’)</h3>
Examples: GS TPDDTEC, VM0048, ACM0002.

<h3>Assessment level: Project</h3>
Examples: GS 10790, VCS 1571.

Criteria in the assessment are categorised as either quality criteria or risk criteria, and are segmented by our three pillars of impact: Climate, Nature and People. Based on how it meets each criterion, the project gains points for quality criteria, and loses points for excess risk – ultimately giving a risk-adjusted value out of 100 for each of these pillars.
Having gathered our risk-adjusted pillar scores, we use our own unique scoring formula which weights the risk-adjusted Climate score of the project equally with the combined risk-adjusted Nature and People scores. The formula then produces an ‘overall’ score (also out of 100) for the project. In order to be supplied by Ecologi, projects must meet a minimum overall score of 80, and must achieve no lower than 65 in any given risk-adjusted pillar score.

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<h2>Key questions to ask carbon credit suppliers</h2>
Selecting the right carbon credit provider is important to help guide you to make informed choices as part of your corporate sustainability strategy. Before purchasing carbon credits, businesses should ask:
<h3>Project quality </h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you assess/validate/underwrite project quality? If so, how?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do your projects get good ratings from the ratings agencies? If so, what ratings are they?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you source credits directly from project developers, or from the secondary market?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you monitor projects over time to ensure continued success, and how do you remedy it, if a project&#8217;s quality drops?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Due diligence</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you ensure you are supporting the right projects in the right locations?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you account for project permanence and mitigate risks?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What makes your projects additional?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you assess the project&#8217;s impacts on climate, nature and people?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Positioning</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you contribute to the development of a high integrity voluntary carbon market?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you align your portfolios with the Oxford Principles? If so, how?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do you reflect ICVCM guidance on carbon credit methodologies and technologies?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you build multi-year portfolios that align to mid- &amp; long-term SBTs?</li>
</ul>
As the voluntary carbon market evolves, corporate buyers have the power and the responsibility to demand high-impact credits to drive real climate progress. This means buyers have a responsibility to do due diligence before placing an order for carbon credits.

<h2>Take action in the voluntary carbon market</h2>
As a business committed to corporate climate action, understanding the voluntary carbon market is essential for making informed decisions about carbon credits. Our comprehensive whitepaper provides deeper insights into creating an effective sustainability strategy.
<a href="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20250428124112/Ecologi_Whitepaper_A4.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Download our full whitepaper</a> to learn how your business can navigate the voluntary carbon market with confidence.

<h2>Connect with one of our climate experts</h2>
Please complete our form to arrange a 30-minute discovery call to discuss your goals and get a tailored solution for your business.

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