The climate emergency affects us all. But setting goals isn’t enough. Businesses must innovate, become more entrepreneurial, and close the gap between intention and action.
That's where Pilotlight comes in.
Our approach uses skilled volunteering to contribute to businesses net zero action whilst giving employees an opportunity to do something practical and positive. Employees can enhance their creative problem-solving skills whilst developing new power skills and learning about climate risk. As the focus is on organisational support, it’s a lower risk form of corporate engagement with environmental charities.
How it works
We bring together teams of skilled volunteers to solve pressing real-world challenges that environmental charities face. Your employees work together to develop ideas and solutions for the charity to take forward, developing their own skills in the process.
Our programmes sit across the talent spectrum: from entry level to executive leadership with a high degree of flexibility, depending on the needs and priorities of our Partner Businesses and Partner Charities.
In 2024 we partnered with Linklaters to support the UK’s first social impact programme for climate action:
The environmental agenda is much more important than it's ever been, including on the volunteering side, and skills based volunteering is where it matters. We know that not-for-profit organisations in this sector are at a crux now of opportunity but need that business related experience and support to grow and make the most of those opportunities. That's where Pilotlight came in.
Matt Sparkes, Sustainability Director, Linklaters LLP
Return on investment
For your business:
- Contributions to net zero action through domestic action in line with thought leadership around a Just Transition
- Lower risk forms of corporate engagement with environmental charities, with a focus on organisational support
- Employee engagement and wellbeing
- Learning and development, including around power skills and climate risk
- Giving staff an opportunity to do something practical and positive.
For your employees:
- Increased understanding of climate risks
- Encouraging diverse perspectives and inspiring authentic dialogue
- Effective collaboration across teams and networks
- Efficient resource management with constrained resources
- Unlocking potential by experiential learning
- Valuing everyone in the room.
Helping environmental charities build capacity
There are around 16,000 charities and social enterprises in the UK working for a sustainable future. They are catalysts for action and are full of innovations for turning climate ambitions into reality but our research shows they lack the capacity, skills and resources, to do so.
Our research also highlights that 100,000 skilled "climate volunteers" are needed to bridge this gap. Through our skilled volunteering programmes we hope to accelerate environmental action in the UK.
