Environmental Sustainability: 2025 in Action

It’s now been three years since we first launched our Environmental Sustainability Framework and became a Carbon Measured organisation.

We’re continuing to review our sustainability activity and measure our carbon emissions with consultants Eight Versa. This year’s results show areas of progress and where further work is needed, and we plan to continue work on our main sustainability goals over the next year:

• To minimise the environmental impact of our activities.
• To communicate effectively about our environmental responsibility.

Our 2025 carbon footprint

In 2025, we achieved carbon emissions reductions in a number of areas. These reductions were in:

• Goods transported to, and out of, the museum
• Electricity consumption
• Waste
• And the end-of-life of products sold.

However, in a year when the museum has undertaken a vital, one-off capital works project to improve access, our overall carbon footprint has increased compared to 2024. The rise is largely due to higher emissions associated with gas consumption, goods and services (including capital expenditure), business travel and employee commuting. In spite of this, emissions remain below our 2019 baseline.

Compared to our 2019 baseline:

• Our total emissions reduced by 7 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e)
• Scope 1 (gas) emissions reduced by 26 tCO₂e
• Scope 2 (electricity) emissions reduced by 107 tCO₂e
• Scope 3 (purchased goods and services) emissions increased by 127 tCO₂e

Working towards our sustainability goals

Developing internal knowledge around climate action was a key focus. This year:

• We gained in‑house Carbon Literacy trainers
• All members of the museum’s Sustainability Working Group completed Carbon Literacy training.
• We are working towards achieving the Carbon Literacy Project’s Bronze Accreditation.

This growing in-house expertise is helping to work sustainability into everyday decision‑making across the museum.

We are also continuing to explore how we can make our environmental commitments more visible and accessible to all audiences. Our future plans include:

• Improving sustainability content on our website
• Introducing improved displays and signage in key visitor‑facing areas, including the Learning Spaces, visitor bins, and the living wall in the courtyard
• Continuing to deliver sustainability‑conscious family activities during school holidays by using recyclable and low-impact materials

Sustainable family activities

Our future plans

2025 marked another year of meaningful progress. We remain committed to strengthening our organisational knowledge and making sure that sustainability continues to shape the way we work at the museum.

View our 2025 Carbon Measured Certificate (PDF) >