About Us

The Council for Sustainable Business was established by the UK Government in 2018, to help deliver its 25 Year Environment Plan.

It brings together fifteen business leaders from a diverse range of sectors and locations, all dedicated to tackling 3 key environmental challenges:

  • carbon and climate change
  • biodiversity
  • plastics pollution

As a group we advise Defra Ministers and policy teams on the role business can play in achieving the 25 Year Environment Plan goals and how government can best support them in doing so.

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Our vision

Welcome to the Council for Sustainable Business; the place where we, as leading UK businesses, join together to demonstrate our collective commitment to building a more sustainable future.

As we start to recover from the impacts of global lockdown, there is a golden opportunity to drive change and rebuild UK business in cleaner, more sustainable ways.

We must all take responsibility for reimagining and reengineering our business operations in a more sustainable way to protect the future of our planet.

As business leaders, we have the power to position the UK as a global leader in the green economy.

“Every business in the UK has a role to play in delivering this. That is why we are challenging ourselves and others to kickstart this new approach and commit to rapid and real transformations, proving that Britain can rise to the green recovery challenge.”

Liv Garfield, CEO of Severn Trent and CEO of the Council for Sustainable Business

Our purpose

In November 2021 the UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), bringing together over 30,000 delegates including heads of state, climate experts and campaigners to agree coordinated action to tackle climate change.

In the run up to this event we are asking all UK business leaders to demonstrate their own plans to reduce their carbon emissions and their impact on the natural environment. Whether you’re committing to being a Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions business by end 2030, using more renewable energy or improving your biodiversity, we ask that you proudly state your commitments here.

Together, as a unified group, we can use this platform to demonstrate our support for a cleaner and environmentally sustainable economy to the world.

“…ahead of COP26 in Glasgow next year, the government has committed to delivering a green and resilient recovery; the show of support from business leaders prioritising reducing emissions and restoring nature will play a huge part in delivering this and ensuring that the UK continues to be a global leader in protecting our environment for future generations.”

Environment Secretary, George Eustice

On June 29th, many of us came together at the COP 26 Business Leaders Event to share our commitments and inspire positive action. You can read more about this event here.

Show you care by making a commitment

It’s time to commit. We have created a simple list of steps your business could take to demonstrate its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving nature.

COMMIT