Heritage

Addressing climate-related issues is high up on the sector’s agenda, in two main areas:

• Mitigation, i.e. actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Adaptation, i.e. actions to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.

Broadly speaking, the sector is addressing these challenges through:

• Committing to decarbonisation, planning for net zero and delivering on it.
• Researching (on nature-based solutions, predicting impacts and likelihood of hazards, improving energy efficiency, reducing emissions, understanding the impact of changes on local communities through time and in the future, etc.) and developing innovative solutions.
• Investing in the skills and training of a new generation of professionals able to deliver positive actions for both the environment and for heritage.
• Collaborating to share guidance, good practice, lessons learned.
• Raising awareness, and ensuring that these topics are high on the policy agenda.

Case study: The Crown Estate. The Crown Estate’s work on renewable energy, climate resilience and nature recovery is helping address some of the country’s biggest challenges.

All roles in the sector need to embed sustainability. However, a recent mapping highlighted the need for a range of jobs (e.g. Electricians, Plumbers, Farming Advisors, etc.) to have a better understanding of how to operate within the heritage sector, to protect heritage while also greening it.

Given the breadth of the sector, it has been estimated that there is a shortage of a wide range of jobs to support sustainability, such as:

• Built environment: Electricians, Plumbers, Heating and Ventilating Installers, Carpenters and Joiners, Scaffolders, Painters and Decorators, and General Labourers in the construction industry.
• Land management, landscapes, and gardens: Foresters, Ecologists, Farming Advisors, Gardeners, and Managers, Botanists, Rangers, Landscape Architects, Carbon Auditors, Horticulturalists.
• Facilities management: Carbon Accountants, Rural Estates Surveyors.
• Archaeology: Marine Archaeologists, Field Archaeologists, Archaeological Geophysicists.

1. The Historic Environment Forum’s report ‘Heritage Responds’ (2021) highlights the positive contribution that heritage is making to the climate change debate 
2. The report ‘Skills Needs Analysis for the Repair, Maintenance and Retrofit of Traditional (Pre-1919) Buildings in England’ (2024) details key challenges and opportunities in the heritage construction sector from the contractors’ perspective  
3. ‘Heritage and Environment’ collates evidence on the built environment and mitigation measures  
4. ‘Delivering Net Zero for England’s Historic Buildings: Local Data on the Demand for Retrofitting Skills and Economic Growth’  
5. ‘Green Museums: Tackling the Climate Crisis’ (2021) demonstrates the contribution that museums are making to raising awareness, advancing science, and protecting historic buildings and green spaces 
6. Report ‘Heritage and Carbon. Addressing the Skills Gap’ 
7. Climate Change Risks and Hazards, 2024 
8. Natural climate solutions – Griscom et al., 2017