G5: People engaged in social action for the environment

Short Description

Social action is about people coming together to help improve their lives and solve the problems that are important in their communities. It can broadly be defined as practical action in the service of others, which is (i) carried out by individuals or groups of people working together, (ii) not mandated and not for profit, (iii) done for the good of others – individuals, communities and/or society, and (iv) bringing about social change and or value.

Multiple measurements will be used within this indicator as indicative of social actions which people can take to care for and restore the environment.

Readiness and links to data

This indicator is not available for reporting in 2024 in a finalised form. An interim indicator is provided here that presents data from 3 sources:

1) The England Biodiversity Indicators which show volunteer time spent on activities of benefit to the natural environment in England.

2) Natural England’s nationally representative People and Nature Survey (PANS) which show adults’ self-reported social action for the environment. PANS began collecting data on an on-going basis from 2 April 2020.

3) Natural England’s nationally representative Children’s People and Nature Survey (C-PANS) which show children’s self-reported social action for the environment. C-PANS collects data twice yearly (beginning in 2021), once during school holiday-time and once in term-time.

More information on PANS and C-PANS methods, outputs and the full questionnaires, are available on the PANS homepage.

Summary data for G5b and G5c are available in the Statistics and technical details for 2024 national indicators publication.

Notes on indicator

The children’s social action index is not directly comparable to the adults’ index due to the use of different social action statements and a simplified response scale that does not allow for weighting of actions based on their commonality.

The adults’ and children’s social action indices presented here in G5b and G5c measure how people come together to build capacity and act as communities to make changes that benefit the environment. In contrast, the adults’ and children’s pro-environmental behaviours indices presented in G6b and G6d are based on the actions of individuals themselves to directly benefit the environment.

Indicator components

Figure G5a: Volunteer time spent on the natural environment in England, 2000 to 2021

Source

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, ENV09 - England biodiversity indicators

Unit of Measurement

Index (2000 = 100)

Footnotes

The sharp decline in the index in 2020 was due to the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions. Four of the 10 organisations ceased volunteering entirely during this time, with the remaining 6 organisations significantly reducing volunteer hours. Further restrictions were also in place during the first 6 months of 2021, but time spent volunteering began to increase again as these restrictions eased.

Some data have been imputed to fill gaps in the time series where contributing organisations were unable to provide figures for a particular year.

Data provided by 6 organisations (The Conservation Volunteers, Canal and River Trust (formerly British Waterways), National Parks England, Natural England, RSPB and The Wildlife Trusts) were for financial years rather than calendar years. Financial year data have been assigned to the first calendar year (for example, 2019/2020 data were allocated to 2019).

Data provided by one organisation (the Canal and River Trust) include volunteering carried out in Wales.

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Table G5a: Volunteer time spent on the natural environment in England, 2000 to 2021

Year	Value
2000	100.00
2001	88.13
2002	107.25
2003	107.99
2004	112.99
2005	119.85
2006	115.96
2007	134.50
2008	126.26
2009	128.90
2010	132.11
2011	142.22
2012	127.73
2013	128.46
2014	128.10
2015	129.62
2016	135.20
2017	140.28
2018	148.63
2019	141.47
2020	66.36
2021	126.62

Source

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, ENV09 - England biodiversity indicators

Unit of Measurement

Index (2000 = 100)

Footnotes

The sharp decline in the index in 2020 was due to the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions. Four of the 10 organisations ceased volunteering entirely during this time, with the remaining 6 organisations significantly reducing volunteer hours. Further restrictions were also in place during the first 6 months of 2021, but time spent volunteering began to increase again as these restrictions eased.

Some data have been imputed to fill gaps in the time series where contributing organisations were unable to provide figures for a particular year.

Data provided by 6 organisations (The Conservation Volunteers, Canal and River Trust (formerly British Waterways), National Parks England, Natural England, RSPB and The Wildlife Trusts) were for financial years rather than calendar years. Financial year data have been assigned to the first calendar year (for example, 2019/2020 data were allocated to 2019).

Data provided by one organisation (the Canal and River Trust) include volunteering carried out in Wales.

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Trend description for G5a

Between 2000 and 2019, the index of the amount of time contributed by environmental volunteers in England fluctuated, but, overall, it increased by 41%. The index then fell sharply in 2020 due to the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions. While it showed considerable recovery in 2021, the index has not yet returned to its pre-COVID-19 levels, and this is likely to be due to the impacts of further COVID-19 restrictions in the first 6 months of that year. Across the whole time series (from 2000 to 2021), the environmental volunteering index for England has increased by 27%.

Assessment of change

There has been an increase (improvement) in the amount of time contributed by environmental volunteers in England over the long-term assessment period. This is in contrast to the decreases (deteriorations) observed over the short and medium term; however, these decreases are driven by reductions in 2020 and 2021 due to the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions.

Change since 2018 has also been assessed. A decrease (deterioration) in volunteer time spent on the natural environment was observed since 2018. However, this is based on only 4 data points and volunteering in 2020 and 2021 was heavily impacted by COVID-19 restrictions so should be considered as indicative and not evidence of a clear trend.

The assessment results reported here are not directly comparable with other analyses published elsewhere that use different methodologies to explore this indicator component.

Further information on this assessment, along with details on the methodology, is provided in the Assessment background page. Summaries by 25 Year Environment Plan goal and information on indicator links are presented in the Assessment results pages.

Table G5a: Assessment of change

Component	Period	Date range	Percentage change	Smoothing function	Assessment of change
G5a	Short term	2015 to 2020	-13.45	Loess	Deterioration
G5a	Medium term	2010 to 2020	-11.86	Loess	Deterioration
G5a	Long term	2000 to 2020	25.22	Loess	Improvement

Note that assessment categories for the short, medium and long term were assigned based on smoothed data, so percentage change figures in Table G5 may differ from unsmoothed values quoted elsewhere. Percentage change refers to the difference seen from the first to last year in the specified date range.

Figure G5b: Adults' social action score as an index from 0 to 100, England, survey years 2020/2021 to 2022/2023

Source

Natural England, Statistics and technical details for 2024 national indicators

Unit of Measurement

Index value (0 to 100)

Footnotes

Figure G5b is derived from PANS data collected in survey years (April to March) 2020/2021 to 2022/2023 with PANS weightings applied. Base: All asked Module 4.

The indicator is based on responses to question [M4_Q9, options b to h]: ‘How often do you do the actions below when you have the opportunity?’. Scores from 0 (low social action) to 100 (high social action) represent a weighted index of self-reported social action formed from the following statements:

‘I vote for political parties with strong environmental policies’
‘I contact an MP or council about an environmental issue’
‘I sign petitions or participate in a campaign or demonstration about an environmental issue’
‘I volunteer time for an environmental cause’
‘I donate money to or am a member of an environmental organisation’
‘I try to persuade people I know in person to do more to help the environment’
‘I post online content related to the environment’

The inverse of the mean and the variance of responses on the 5-point rating scale (from 1-Never to 5-Always or whenever I have the opportunity) was used to determine an additional weighting by statement. By applying this weighting based on commonality, behaviours that require more commitment and are engaged with less frequently carry a higher weight in the overall index.

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Table G5b: Adults' social action score as an index from 0 to 100, England, survey years 2020/2021 to 2022/2023

Year	Value
2020/2021	33.98
2021/2022	35.70
2022/2023	35.39

Source

Natural England, Statistics and technical details for 2024 national indicators

Unit of Measurement

Index value (0 to 100)

Footnotes

Figure G5b is derived from PANS data collected in survey years (April to March) 2020/2021 to 2022/2023 with PANS weightings applied. Base: All asked Module 4.

The indicator is based on responses to question [M4_Q9, options b to h]: ‘How often do you do the actions below when you have the opportunity?’. Scores from 0 (low social action) to 100 (high social action) represent a weighted index of self-reported social action formed from the following statements:

‘I vote for political parties with strong environmental policies’
‘I contact an MP or council about an environmental issue’
‘I sign petitions or participate in a campaign or demonstration about an environmental issue’
‘I volunteer time for an environmental cause’
‘I donate money to or am a member of an environmental organisation’
‘I try to persuade people I know in person to do more to help the environment’
‘I post online content related to the environment’

The inverse of the mean and the variance of responses on the 5-point rating scale (from 1-Never to 5-Always or whenever I have the opportunity) was used to determine an additional weighting by statement. By applying this weighting based on commonality, behaviours that require more commitment and are engaged with less frequently carry a higher weight in the overall index.

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Trend description for G5b

PANS results cannot yet show yearly trends. However, data show that in 2022/2023 adults on average scored 35 out of 100 on an index of no social action taken for the environment (0) to high engagement with social action for the environment (100). This figure is similar to the index scores reported for 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 (34 and 36 respectively; however, it is not possible to equate these results to an equivalent number of social actions because of the different weightings applied to each of the actions within this measure.).

Assessment of change

No assessment of change was undertaken for this indicator as a suitable time series is not yet available in the Outcome Indicator Framework.

Figure G5c: Children's social action score as an index from 0 to 100, England, survey years 2021 to 2023

Source

Natural England, Statistics and technical details for 2024 national indicators

Unit of Measurement

Index value (0 to 100)

Footnotes

Figure G5c is derived from C-PANS data collected in survey years 2021 to 2023 with C-PANS weightings applied. Data are collected at 2 time-points each year, across 2 to 3 weeks in the school holidays (August) and again during term-time (September to October). Base: All respondents.

The indicator is based on responses to question [CS_Q10]: ‘Which of the following things do you do to look after the environment? There are lots of options but they may not all apply to you or all make sense. Only pick the ones you understand and do yourself to look after the environment.’ Scores from 0 (low social action) to 100 (high social action) represent an index of self-reported social action formed from the following statements:

‘Talk to friends and family about looking after the environment’
‘Volunteer my time (for example, litter pick, planting, raising awareness)’
‘Raise awareness by posting or sharing information online’
‘Try and change what our leaders are doing (for example, sign petitions, demonstrate, or write to them)’

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Table G5c: Children's social action score as an index from 0 to 100, England, survey years 2021 to 2023

Year	Value
2021	12.69
2022	12.39
2023	14.42

Source

Natural England, Statistics and technical details for 2024 national indicators

Unit of Measurement

Index value (0 to 100)

Footnotes

Figure G5c is derived from C-PANS data collected in survey years 2021 to 2023 with C-PANS weightings applied. Data are collected at 2 time-points each year, across 2 to 3 weeks in the school holidays (August) and again during term-time (September to October). Base: All respondents.

The indicator is based on responses to question [CS_Q10]: ‘Which of the following things do you do to look after the environment? There are lots of options but they may not all apply to you or all make sense. Only pick the ones you understand and do yourself to look after the environment.’ Scores from 0 (low social action) to 100 (high social action) represent an index of self-reported social action formed from the following statements:

‘Talk to friends and family about looking after the environment’
‘Volunteer my time (for example, litter pick, planting, raising awareness)’
‘Raise awareness by posting or sharing information online’
‘Try and change what our leaders are doing (for example, sign petitions, demonstrate, or write to them)’

Download CSV

Trend description for G5c

C-PANS results cannot yet show yearly trends. However, data show that in 2023, children on average scored 14 out of 100 on an index of no social action taken for the environment (0) to high engagement with social action for the environment (100). This result is similar to the index scores reported for 2021 and 2022 (13 and 12 respectively) and on average, roughly equates to every second child carrying out any one of the 4 social actions included within this measure.

Assessment of change

No assessment of change was undertaken for this indicator as a suitable time series is not yet available in the Outcome Indicator Framework.

Indicator Metadata

Headline indicator status: Nature on land and water
Primary goal in the 25 Year Environment Plan: Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment
Relevant goal(s) in the 25 Year Environment Plan: Enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment
Relevant target(s) in the 25 Year Environment Plan: Focusing on increasing action to improve the environment from all sectors of society
Position in the natural capital framework: Service or benefit associated with natural capital asset
Related reporting commitments: None
Geographical Scope: England
Status of indicator development: Interim
First Reported: 2019
Last Updated: 2024
Latest Data: 2023