This article is written by Prateek Buch, a member of OneTeamGov, and Senior Data Advisor at the UK National Leadership Centre. He writes here in a personal capacity****.

On 22nd January 2020, the global OneTeamGov network of reformist public servants held a series of events in Australia, Norway, Finland, Wolverhampton and London in the UK, and on both coasts of Canada, that focused on addressing climate change through public service. We called these events OneGreenGov.

I was part of the small but perfectly-formed team that brought together public servants, scientists, businesses and students in London, and I left with one big question in two parts: what are the immediate and long-term actions required to make our political economy sustainable? What role can innovative approaches to governance and public policy play?

I also left with deepening anxiety at the daunting scale of the task, and yet with renewed hope that collaboration — globally and locally — tied into mission-driven innovation, can create the change required to avert irreversible climate change. In this blogpost I will start to explore these questions on greening government and the wider economy, expand briefly on the complexity we face, and build on the energy, diversity of thought and above all hope that OneGreenGov gives me in this most crucial of years..

How can the public sector foster a sustainable economy?

It is clear that political context is crucial.

In 2019 the UK Government committed to net zero emissions by 2050, and to phase out sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2035, showing that elected leaders are beginning to respond to the pressing need for the systemic changes called for by established scientific evidence and a growing body of public opinion. As public servants, we can work within this framework to bring about some of the necessary changes in personal behaviour, regulatory environment, and market system — and as several speakers at the London event emphasised, we can begin by making government itself greener.

If I could encourage public servants to do one thing, it would be to insert just one line about minimising climate impact in every policy proposal, procurement contract and delivery plan, and to connect with this growing global community to hold ourselves to account on progress

Whether it is by making our use of cloud-based digital services more sustainable, using open data to make public procurement greener, or eliminating single-use plastic on sale in government buildings (huge progress is already being made across Whitehall), civil servants can help reduce the UK’s carbon footprint by improving how we procure, run, and govern our day-to-day operations.

As several speakers and contributors mentioned, doing so has multiple effects: by directly reducing our impact on the environment, by shaping and even creating markets for suppliers, and sending powerful wider signals to the broader economy on the nation’s direction of travel and urgency of action. In short: public servants can be the change we wish to see in the world, not only in how we operate as a sector, but how we interact with wider the socio-economic changes required.

The scale of change required is daunting

As if it isn’t difficult enough to move away from fossil fuels, it was clear from several contributions at OneGreenGov London that to effectively prevent — or even adequately mitigate — damaging climate change, wholesale changes in the way public services and the broader economy operate are needed.

There were breakout sessions during the unconference sessions around missing voices in the climate debate, on intergenerational considerations we sometimes neglect, and even a frank discussion on whether net zero emissions was the right target to aim for. These indicated the multi-dimensional nature of the policy discussion ahead.

We were really fortunate to hear from former government chief scientific advisor Prof. Sir David King, who walked us through the latest scientific evidence relating to carbon emissions, and global trends in climate impacts. Some of the data — even for an audience generally well-versed in such things — painted a bleak picture, not for the faint-hearted. It would have been easy to walk away feeling intimidated by the scale of the challenge.

And yet, there was hope.

Collaboration, diversity and innovation give grounds for hope

Speaking personally, some moments from OneGreenGov — including the build-up, the day itself, and the conversations since — have given me hope that public servants, not only in the UK but beyond, can bring about the concerted action needed to meet this daunting challenge.

It was great to have Permanent Secretary of the Department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) speak to us via video link, emphasising the determination at the very top of public service to do everything possible to minimise climate change and to mitigate its impact. Many contributors set out clear actions required to do just that.

Then there was the diversity of perspective in the room: from a 14 year-old student pitching a labelling scheme to empower consumers to make better choices, to historians of climate science and policymakers from across national and local government, a wide range of views was aired. As diverse teams make better decisions, my hope is the new connections made on the day will endure.

As for connection: we may not quite have managed to “follow the sun” as we first intended, but linking even briefly with public servants holding their own events in Australia, Norway and Canada gave me great hope for cross-border collaboration. If I could encourage public servants to do one thing, it would be to insert just one line about minimising climate impact in every policy proposal, procurement contract and delivery plan, and to connect with this growing global community to hold ourselves to account on progress. This will necessarily be piecemeal and experimental at first, but I’m confident we can learn from and scale up work such as the UK’s Year of Climate Action.

As we build towards the vital COP26 climate summit in Glasgow this November, public servants need to lead the way in taking practical actions — micro and macro — in innovative, open, connected and collaborative ways to help make the world greener.  In OneGreenGov, the saplings of that community have been planted — let’s make sure we grow it together. — Prateek Buch

OneGreenGov is a community of public servants inspired by the OneTeamGov movement to take action on climate change. To find out more and get involved, you can follow us on Twitter, head to (or start your own!) local meetup, or email us.

(Picture credit: Unsplash)

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