Second annual RACE Report marks Race Equality Week
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To mark Race Equality Week, running from 5th – 11th February 2024, Students Organising for Sustainability have launched the second annual RACE Report.
Launched in 2022, The RACE Report is a UK-wide data transparency initiative aimed at encouraging environmental charities and funders to improve the racial and ethnic diversity of their workforce and governing bodies. It is the only study of its kind in the UK.
The latest report, released today (5th February), sees a 56% increase in organisation participation and a 63% increase in the number of employees represented.
The report has found that 6% of employees surveyed as part of the report identify as people of colour and other racially or ethnically minoritised groups. This is compared with an average across the UK workforce of 15% of employees who identify as people of colour and other racially or ethnically minoritised groups.
As an organisation, we know how vital transparency and collaboration is to increase equity and inclusion in the environmental sector.
Sandy Luk, CEO
"The latest findings of the RACE Report show that there’s some way to go to align sector representation with the wider UK workforce.
“We’re confident that in being part of a collaborative, cross-sector initiative like this, we can make meaningful progress together. This vital step, of assessing where we are, means we can put together tangible action plans to help us get to where we want to be.”
The Charity Commission’s register of charities lists over 8,000 charities whose activities include the word ‘environment’ and over 2,000 charities whose activities include the word ‘nature’.
We encourage organisations across the nature, climate and environmental sectors to get involved in this initiative to deliver vital and systemic change.
You can read the full RACE Report via the Students Organising for Sustainability website.
Manu Maunganidze, from The RACE Report team, said: “It's encouraging to see how much the sector’s engagement with racial diversity has grown in just one year. The more data we have at our disposal, the better equipped we are to shape best practice and ensure we are amplifying underrepresented voices in the fight for social and environmental justice.
“Each organisation who has come forward to contribute to this report has done a brilliant thing in voluntarily submitting their data. We now need to make sure that this engagement translates into more meaningful progress. That means reflecting on what the data tells us, but also really listening to the lived experiences of the individuals who power our sector. It’s only through having these difficult conversations, learning from each other, and implementing inclusive practices that we’ll ensure next year’s report tells a story of both an appetite for change and tangible improvement.”
Read more on our work and goals for equity, diversity and inclusion.