The Charity Commission is to consider adding a new good practice standard to its Hallmarks of an Effective Trustee, which will promote environmental responsibility among charities.

At the request of the ministerial third sector task force on climate change, board members were presented with a paper earlier today suggesting how the Commission could make a recommendation on “environmental responsibility, sustainability and action to tackle climate change”.

The paper says that “as a minimum” and without consultation the following paragraph could be added to Hallmark 3: Fit for Purpose: “The charity considers ways in which it can take an environmentally responsible approach to its work which is consistent with its purposes, even when its purposes are not specifically related to the environment”.

It further suggests that the Commission could informally consult umbrella bodies and other relevant organisations on adding a line arguing charities should consider how they can tackle the environment through their work, even when their purposes are not directly related to the environment.

It also suggests that the Essential Trustee (CC3) guidance could have a similar emphasis, to be added when it is next updated.

In support, the paper cites the Commission’s Going Green research, which found in December 2008 that charities need a more corporate approach, as “it is often one or two more motivated individuals who champion good practice rather than it being seen as a whole-organisation responsibility”.