Skip to content
Make the commitment Accessibility Tools
About

Background to the Diverse Sustainability Initiative (DSI)

Why was the DSI set up?

The Diverse Sustainability Initiative (DSI) stems from a lack of racial diversity in the environment profession. It was set up in 2021 by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), inspired by Black Lives Matter movement. The DSI aims to improve diversity through education, connection and transparency.

With an initial focus on racial inequality, it has since expanded to include an LGBTQIA+ network, and will continue to look at other underrepresented groups as the initiative grows.

Reality check

There are many statistics within the environmental and sustainability profession that evidence the need for change. Fortunately, more organisations and individuals are now aware of this and acting on change.

In 2022, research was co-funded by SOS-UK, IEMA and NERC to aid a better sector understanding of racial diversity within the environment sector. This comes after 2017 research by the think tank Policy Exchange found that just 3% of workers in the UK’s environment sector are Black, Asian and minority-ethnic people.

View the 2022 report

Three people in high-vis jackets and hard hats on a building site

Key findings arising from this report are that:

  • ‘Environment professionals’ are one of the least racially diverse professions in the UK, with just 4.81% identifying as Black, Asian or from other minority ethnic groups, compared to 12.64% across all UK professions.
  • Racial diversity amongst UK higher education subjects closely related to environment professions is notably lower when compared to the racial diversity seen across all subjects. Across all higher education subjects, students who identify as Black, Asian, Mixed or other, account for 26% of students. When looking at subjects closely related to environmental careers, this ranges from 14% for ‘Applied environmental sciences’ to 6% for ‘Biodiversity conservation’.
  • Regardless of race/ethnicity, key motivations for pursuing a career in the environment sector were wanting to help tackle global environmental issues, such as climate change, and an interest in these issues.

In it for the long haul

Improving diversity will take a generation to achieve in its entirety, as it requires a shift in mindset and wholesale systems changes to engage a new generation of environment and sustainability professionals. However, our approach aims to ensure consistent, iterative solutions are enacted and progress is made at short- and medium-term milestones.

Read more about the purpose and structure of the DSI
Silhuoette action sport outdoors of a group of kids having fun playing street soccer