In celebration of World Earth Day 2026, we are delighted to highlight some of our members who have made sustainability and responsible tourism central to their business.
Royal Museums Greenwich has engaged with its visitors on sustainability themes, including hosting Extinction Rebellion’s Polly Higgins “Act Now” boat, partnering with the RSS Sir David Attenborough, displaying an Arctic ice core in its Poles Apart gallery, and hosting an annual festival for World Ocean Day. Their Poles Apart exhibition focuses on the work of the RSS Sir David Attenborough and shines a light on the challenges facing polar regions.
1. What does sustainability mean to your company, and why does it matter now more than ever?
At Royal Museums Greenwich, sustainability is embedded as one of the key goals of our organisational strategy, and we commit to engaging with the environmental challenges facing our future. Our approach is underpinned by three themes: raising the level of consciousness about climate change, increasing the sustainability of our sites, and integrating this approach across all our activities.
We take influence from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, too. Two are particularly relevant to our sustainability strategy. Goal 13 calls for action to combat climate change and its impacts, while Goal 11.4 asks museums to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage. We aim to demonstrate that these two goals are not mutually exclusive and that it is possible to preserve our collection while reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted the 2020s as a crucial decade for making deep cuts into carbon emissions. With less than four years of the decade remaining, it is more important than ever to take action now to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
2. How does your organisation measure the impact of your sustainability initiatives?
Accurate data is the most critical part of measuring the impact of any sustainability initiative. We collect a wealth of information on various sustainability indicators, including energy consumption, business travel, water consumption and waste.
The collection of that data allows us to establish a baseline and monitor the impact of any initiatives we implement. This can be at an organisational or project level, e.g., to demonstrate the energy and carbon savings from upgrading lighting to LED.
Feedback from stakeholders is also important. We do what we can to communicate our sustainability work to our visitors and staff, and their feedback helps inform future plans and shows us where we can do better. We have conducted staff surveys that have sought views and feedback on sustainability in general, as well as on more specific topics such as staff travel.
Peer recognition is also very helpful. We were delighted to recently receive the Sustainable Tourism Provider of the Year award at the UKinbound 2025 Awards for Excellence. Winning this award shows we are on the right track!
3. How can the industry encourage and promote sustainable travel?
Sustainable travel needs to be made easy and attractive. From our perspective in London, we are well served by public transport, but clear, accessible guidance on how to travel is essential for helping those who may be unfamiliar with London’s public transport network.
Providing information to a visitor at the planning stage of their trip will hopefully influence them in their travel choices. In our communications, we place greater emphasis on sustainable and active travel options to influence how visitors travel.
We can also sell the other benefits of sustainable travel to make it a more attractive option. In our case, travelling by river boat is not only a sustainable option but also a fantastic way to see more of London from a unique view. Tour operators and attractions could also support sustainable travel by bundling public transport tickets with venue tickets, or by offering discounted entry for visitors who use public transport.
4. What practical advice would you offer to organisations to improve their sustainability offering in a way that supports local communities and makes meaningful contributions to the places they operate in?
Attractions and venues are important parts of their community. They’re often a major employer, a local destination for days out, and part of the area’s identity. That puts us in a position of influence, which I think also means we are obligated to improve our sustainability efforts, lead by example, and collaborate with the community on shared sustainability goals.
One way to make a meaningful contribution is to work with local community groups, networks and sustainability startups. For example, we have recently entered into a partnership with a new local circular economy hub. The partnership allows us to send surplus materials that would previously have gone to waste to the hub, where they are made available in a materials store. Local community groups and creatives can access the store to take the materials and give them a new life. This is a great example of local organisations working together for a sustainability solution that benefits the local area.
5. What does success in sustainability look like for your company in the next 10 years?
In the next 10 years, we will be well on our way to achieving net zero for scope one and two carbon emissions (those principally associated with the use of gas and electricity).
We are already taking big steps towards decarbonising the heating of our buildings, no small endeavour considering the challenges presented by the heritage nature of our sites. By 2028, we will have completed the installation of air source heat pumps at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. We have also started the next part of that journey by developing feasibility plans for the decarbonisation of the National Maritime Museum and Queen’s House.
If we can achieve this, it will not only be considered a huge success, but it should also demonstrate that if we can do it on an estate that includes protected scheduled monuments and grade one listed buildings in a UNESCO World Heritage location, then anyone can.
I’m also excited by our plans for biodiversity. Having recently commissioned a biodiversity baseline assessment, we are developing a long-term masterplan that targets a significant biodiversity net gain whilst adding another attractive feature to our estate and another reason to visit.
6. By 2030, what measurable sustainability goals is your organisation committed to achieving?
We have a broad range of goals across the whole spectrum of sustainability. Our targets are:
- By 2030, reduce direct (scope 1) carbon emissions by 23% from 2025/26 levels.
- By 2030, reduce overall carbon emissions by 40% from 2025/26 levels.
- By 2030, reduce waste by 10% from 2025/26 levels.
- By 2030, recycle at least 60% of our waste.
- By 2030, reduce water consumption by at least 3% from 2025/26 levels.
- By 2035, achieve a 10% biodiversity net gain across our estate.
- Each year, 10% of our staff and volunteers will participate in Carbon Literacy for Museums training.
For more information on Royal Museums Greenwich, click here.
