Hastings School has recently become the first carbon-neutral school in Madrid, Spain and our first carbon-neutral school in our global community. The school is committed to a comprehensive sustainability strategy, and this achievement highlights the efforts that have been made to change the culture and reduce the school’s carbon footprint overall. 

Hastings School has been working with our partner, Sustainability at School, since the 2020/21 academic year, to effect sustainability action in their school community via a comprehensive whole-school sustainability programme.

Sustainability is a key strategic priority for the school.  There is a clear annual sustainability action plan, overseen by the Sustainability Leadership Team which includes representation from the schools’ leadership, operations teams, students and teaching staff.

Hastings School has been measuring its carbon footprint, since the 2020/21 academic year, under the Climate Neutral Now initiative of the UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change), the UN entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change.

The school has implemented a range of actions, to actively measure and reduce the key areas of its footprint, including, but not limited to:

  • Reducing electricity consumption – including the installation of solar panels on four buildings, creation of student-led campaigns to save electricity (e.g. race to zero), as well as a significant reduction in electricity consumption 23/24 vs 22/23.
  • Reducing ‘foodprint’ – improving plant-based menu options to encourage vegetarian or vegan choices (increased from 3-6% in 23/24); raising awareness of healthy & sustainable food choices, for example the creation of a sustainable recipe competition.
  • Reducing food waste – weighing food waste, and creating inter-class competitions to incentivise engagement.
  • Reducing emissions from transport – reducing the number of overseas residential trips, reducing the number of shuttle busses from 3 to 2 in 23/24.
  • Carbon offsetting its unavoidable emissions through a partnership with Ripple Africa and a specific project to build fuel efficient cook stoves.

These specific actions are complemented by student-led assemblies and school communications to raise awareness and encourage sustainable behaviours and build a culture of sustainability in the community.

Jamie Delaney, our Head of ESG and Group Ethics and Compliance Officer, shared: “We’re very happy to celebrate Hastings and their incredible journey to becoming carbon-neutral. The school is a prime example of how taking a whole school sustainability approach really does make a difference, not just in terms of reducing our environmental impact, but also on empowering our students with practical tools to tackle sustainability issues in school and beyond.”

For more information about these excellent initiatives at Hastings, as well as greater detail about our Cognita sustainability strategy and our latest Sustainability Report, click here.