The Duchy of Cornwall Achieves Gold Carbon Literate Organisation Status

The Duchy of Cornwall has revealed its achieved Gold Carbon Literate Organisation status, after over half of its employees have become individually certified as Carbon Literate by The Carbon Literacy Project. The news follows the Duchy sharing its ongoing work with agricultural tenants to bring down the Estate’s emissions in order to achieve net zero by the early 2030s.

The Duchy of Cornwall is one of only 26 Gold level or above Carbon Literate Organisations, and the first rural estate both to roll-out Carbon Literacy training and achieve this accolade. The training, provided by Head of Sustainability, David Cope and accredited by The Carbon Literacy Project, has armed Duchy employees with the knowledge and skills required to create a positive shift in reducing carbon emissions for the organisation and in their personal lives. The training includes learning about climate change and encourages everyone to make tangible commitments on how carbon emissions can be reduced.

David Cope, Head of Sustainability at the Duchy of Cornwall, says: 

However, the focus is not only on Duchy employees, but also the Estate’s suppliers and development partners, as its Gold status extends the commitment to helping reduce emissions of the businesses it works with. The Duchy of Cornwall has, therefore, implemented a new Sustainable Procurement Policy, a collaborative project with Business in the Community (BITC), who will support in encouraging the Duchy’s suppliers to become more sustainable via training and support. 

Belinda Goodman, Head of Responsible Business Advisory at BITC, says: 

The Estate is confident that the Carbon Literacy training will help all its employees play their part in achieving its net zero goal. Previously, the Duchy’s 2022 Net Zero Carbon Report highlighted that farming contributes 62% of the Estate’s total carbon footprint, which spurred the organisation, under the guidance of Prince William, The Duke of Cornwall, to increase the available support for tenants to target emission reduction on farms. Now, with the inclusion of support for suppliers in partnership with BITC, employees, tenants and suppliers will all be able to share common goals around sustainability.

Phil Korbel, Co-Founder and Director of Advocacy at the Carbon Literacy Project says: 

Achieving Gold Carbon Literate Organisation Status will actively contribute to the delivery of the Estate’s vision of Sustainable Stewardship for Communities, Enterprise and Nature.