What is the environment sector? The environment sector is concerned with protecting the natural environment and mitigating the negative impacts of human society on the environment, for the benefit of people, wildlife, and natural systems. People who work in the environment sector may be employed by charitable organisations, companies providing environmental services or services to the environment sector, governments, or councils, or they could work for themselves (also called being self-employed).

Charitable organisations

Charities operate for the greater good of society without making a profit (all the money they raise has to go towards achieving their aims). Charities are sometimes called not-for-profit organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or just organisations, though in order to be called a charity in the UK, an organisation needs to be registered with the Charity Commission.

Charities can vary in size from Big International Non-Governmental Organisations (BINGOs), including well-known organisations such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which has an income of over £80million and over 400 employees, to organisations run between a small group of trustees, volunteers, and/or staff. There are pros and cons to organisations across the size spectrum that include job security, different paths for career development, bureaucracy, and day-to-day variety, and some people may naturally prefer and be better suited to organisations of particular sizes.

Examples of charities working in the UK environmental sector include:

• Chester Zoo: A large organisation (~500 employees, >200 volunteers) which runs Chester Zoo, partly to educate the public about wildlife and conservation, partly to run captive conservation programmes and research, and to raise funds for conservation projects.
• ShareAction: A medium-sized organisation (49 employees) specialising in improving the environmental impact of the financial services industry by working with investors, policymakers, and individuals.
• Young Climate Warriors: A small organisation (5 trustees) dedicated to the education of children and young people in climate change and promoting the protection of our environment.

The difference between a charity and a foundation

There is also a subtle difference between a charity and a foundation. A foundation is a type of charity usually created because there is a single source of funding which a person or group of people would like to put to charitable use, whereas most charities depend on funds from multiple sources (for example, from the general public or a range of different donors) and will invest more of their efforts towards fundraising to ensure they can continue to do their work.

An example of a foundation is the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, which aims to improve our natural world, secure a fairer future, and strengthen the bonds in communities in the UK.

Companies

Companies produce or sell goods or services and so usually operate to make a profit, and where the operations have an impact on the environment such as resources (e.g. product packaging or textiles), travel (e.g. a transport or delivery company), or buildings (e.g. energy efficiency in an office), there are often opportunities at larger businesses for people to reduce a company’s environmental impact.

There are also not-for-profit companies which do not distribute profits to shareholders, as above, but keep the profits for further development of the company. Within not-for-profit companies are Community Interest Companies, which are a combination of a business (as they will trade a product or service) and a charity (as they benefit more than the shareholders or owners, i.e. they need to benefit a ‘community’ which can be a group of people/things, a geographical area, people with certain characteristics such as young people, female led businesses in the UK, areas of deforestation around the world etc.).

Examples of companies working in the UK environmental sector include:

• Environmental Resources Management (ERM): A large (5,000+ employees around the world) company which supports other companies in improving how their operations impact environment, health, safety, and sustainability.
• Biodiversify: Like ERM, it is also a consultancy (supports other companies by providing expertise) but its specialises in advising organisations and companies on how to improve their impact on nature and actively protect it, and is much smaller (9 employees).

Government

Within public service roles, there are different levels, from the local lev