February 2, 2026
The fourth annual RACE Report, the UK’s largest analysis of the racial diversity of the environmental charity and funder sector, has been published today. The latest figures show a clear uptick in racial diversity among the organisations that have submitted data every year since the report’s inception, alongside modest improvement across the wider dataset.
Across all environmental organisations submitting data to the project, 4.7% of staff identify as people of colour or from other ethnically minoritised groups, up from 4.5% last year. However, among the organisations that have submitted data every year of the campaign (which was launched in 2022), representation now stands at 8.4%.
It is important to not ignore the challenging political context that The RACE Report is being delivered in. This makes the RACE Report and similar initiatives even more necessary, providing vital, verified evidence of progress (or a lack of it) in a sector itself facing headwinds from a much more visible part of the political class.
91 organisations have now submitted data for four consecutive years, providing the most reliable picture of progress to date. Among these repeat participants, representation of people of colour has increased from 6.2% in 2022 to 8.4% in 2025, showing considerable improvement among organisations that have consistently reported on racial diversity. This group has also seen a significant reduction in “not disclosed” responses (from 27% in 2022 to 9% in 2025 - with a corresponding rise in staff recorded as white identities), suggesting a growing ease with transparency.
The repeat participants cohort also offers a clearer understanding of how organisations are implementing racial diversity measures over time. Organisations are asked to detail the action taken internally to support equality, diversity and inclusion; from a list of 38 actions, 12 actions showed an increase in the number of organisations reporting them as “fully implemented as operational” between 2022 and 2025. The biggest shifts in implementation were seen in:
In addition, the most commonly reported fully implemented action across all four years of the campaign for this cohort is appointing a senior leader with official responsibility for EDI. 81% of repeat participants say this is fully implemented within their organisation.
In total, 137 organisations submitted data to this latest edition of The RACE Report, lower than last year’s figure of 161. This reflects the constraints facing many charities, including reduced funding for dedicated EDI roles and higher barriers to engaging with impact reporting.
Despite this, the number of staff represented by the data remains broadly consistent with 2024, with over 28,000 employees included in 2025’s dataset (compared to 28,600 in 2024).
Across all organisations submitting data in 2025, racial diversity representation remains below the UK workforce average, with 17% of the UK’s working population identifying as Black, Asian or other minority ethnic identities. In comparison, the environmental charity and funder sector reports that:
Representation also varies significantly depending on an organisation’s size and focus. For example, organisations working on ‘climate or climate justice’ reported the highest representation, with 16.3% of staff identifying as people of colour or from other ethnically minoritised groups, while organisations categorised as ‘Other’ reported the lowest levels of representation (3.5%). Meanwhile, organisations with fewer than 10 full time staff reported the highest representation, with 15.1% of staff identifying as people of colour, while 3.5% of staff identify as people of colour in organisations with 50-249 employees.
“It’s encouraging to see so many organisations continue to commit resources to this reporting, especially in a much less favourable environment than when we started. In 2022, the Black Lives Matter movement was front of mind in society and there was more space in the sector to focus on equity and inclusion. The landscape has changed, but these organisations are committed to doing the right thing and keeping momentum up.
We also know that many of the organisations who couldn’t take part this year were held back by capacity, not a lack of commitment. Going forward, we’ll be streamlining the data submission process to make it easier for these organisations to take part and have their staff represented. Fortunately, the overall employee sample size has stayed steady which means we can still see the direction of travel clearly, and there is progress to celebrate - especially among those who’ve been on this journey from the beginning.
We never launched this campaign expecting to overhaul representation across an entire sector overnight. Some of the most important insights come from the organisations that report year after year, and they are making headway in enabling our sector to better reflect the national picture. Only through sustained efforts and a focus on implementation can we understand what’s working and where the sector still needs to push.
We are also keenly aware that the RACE Report must continue to reflect the intersecting identities that continue to be left out of this and other parts of the British economy. Expanding and deepening the breadth of analysis to that effect will remain a priority going forwards.”
Alongside the main dataset, the 2025 edition includes the second biannual Staff Perceptions Survey. First launched in 2023, it aims to contextualise diversity data within the lived experiences of employees. Responses were gathered from 1,685 employees from all backgrounds and identities across 50 organisations. Together, the two datasets provide the clearest picture yet of representation, inclusion and workplace culture across the sector.
Overall sentiment remains positive: 87% of respondents say they enjoy working for their organisation; 82% would recommend it to someone with their background or identity; and 83% feel recruitment processes are fair.
However, the survey also found statistically significant differences between respondents identifying as people of colour and those identifying as white:
This year also saw an increase in voluntary intersectional reporting, with 34 organisations submitting data on one or more of the following characteristics: age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; and sexual orientation. The results indicate that people of colour are disproportionately represented across several other minoritised identities, underscoring the importance of understanding diversity in its full complexity.
Going forward, The RACE Report campaign will work to make reporting more accessible by simplifying submission processes and reducing administrative burdens. Strengthening representation across the sector remains essential to ensuring that those most affected by climate change are reflected in efforts to tackle it. The RACE Report will also continue to support organisations with implementation, including through the new RACE Report Community membership, which offers expert‑led sessions, peer learning and data‑informed guidance to help drive meaningful progress on equity, diversity and inclusion.
The four founding partners of The RACE Report are Hindu Climate Action, Nature Youth Connection and Education, South Asians for Sustainability and SOS-UK. The project is funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and and Sychronicity Earth. The accountable organisation is SOS-UK.
Get in touch at race-report@sos-uk.org