Our Climate Action Partners

Climate Action Progress Report 

December 2025 

At Social Investment Scotland we remain committed to developing Earth-friendly practices as a global citizen, employer, investor, investee and sector intermediary. 

Our mission is to connect capital with communities, to make a real, measurable and sustainable impact on people’s lives. 

We believe Scotland should play a full role in a global context in building an impact economy aligned with the objectives of inclusive economic growth.   

Through our 10-year strategy (2020 – 2030) Building an Impact Economy we seek to minimise harm, maximise positive impacts for people and planet, and contribute solutions to some of society’s biggest challenges. It is impossible to do this without placing care for Earth as a central pillar of our work.   

Since publishing our Climate Action Statement in 2022, we have embedded climate action across investments, partnerships, and internal practices, building momentum through our first progress report in 2023 and continuing this work in 2024. 

We embedded green and nature finance within the Innovation pillar of SIS’s 2-year strategic action plan (April 2025–March 2027), making climate action a core driver of innovation and market-building. 

This 2026 Climate Action Progress Report reflects the progress made during 2025 and sets out our priorities for the year ahead. These priorities include advancing nature finance through FIRNS Round 3, piloting innovative financing models for community-led climate projects, deepening team engagement with Earth-friendly practices, and strengthening partnerships to accelerate Scotland’s net zero ambitions. 

Progress  

SIS’s environmental activities are led by the Impact team, supported by team members across the group. We research best practice, learn from experts, and deliver annual action plans that respond to emerging needs. 

We have made progress in our Climate Action journey with more actions planned for the coming year. For further details, please refer to the table below on page 3 onwards.  

Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) 

FIRNS is a collaboration between the Scottish Government, NatureScot and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It supports environmental projects in Scotland aiming to leverage private finance to achieve both nature restoration and social benefits following responsible investment principles. With the support of Social Investment Scotland, a Community of Practice (CoP) has been established, uniting FIRNS projects along with those from IRNS and Riverwoods Investment Readiness Pioneer projects to share knowledge and enhance their impact. 

In 2026, SIS will continue its role in FIRNS Round 3 dissemination and explore small-scale pilot projects to demonstrate success in nature finance, helping attract further investment and support for community-led environmental initiatives. 

Potential

SIS can realistically widen its scope into green finance by leveraging its established expertise in climate finance and its strong network within the social enterprise sector. In 2026, we aim to explore opportunities for developing innovative financing models, building capacity within communities, and forming strategic partnerships to support climate and nature-based solutions. We also plan to advocate for supportive policies and share learnings to help others progress with Earth-friendly approaches. 

Questions, comments and feedback 

If you have any questions or would like to talk to us about any aspect of our Environmental practice please contact Lindsay Wake, SIS Head of Impact and Communications at - lindsay@socialinvestmentscotland.com

Read the full Climate Action Progress Report for December 2025 here.

Climate Action Progress Report

January 2025

At Social Investment Scotland we are committed to developing Earth-friendly practices as a global citizen, employer, investor, investee and sector intermediary.

Our mission is to connect capital with communities, to make a real, measurable and sustainable impact on people’s lives.

We believe Scotland should be playing a full role, in a global context, to build an impact economy aligned with the objectives of inclusive economic growth.

Through our 10-year strategy 2020 - 2030 ‘Building an Impact Economy’ we seek to minimise harm, maximise positive impacts for people and planet, and contribute solutions to some of society’s biggest challenges. It is impossible to do this without placing care for Earth as a central pillar of our work.

In December 2022, we published our Climate Action Statement detailing why we place importance on caring for and protecting our planet, our approach, SIS’s Earth-friendly actions so far and our aspirations for the future. In December 2023, we released our first Climate Action progress report.

This 2024 Climate Action progress report highlights the key milestones we have achieved and outlines our key priorities for the next 12 months, aligned with our Earth-friendly approach.

Progress

SIS’s environmental activities are led by SIS’ Impact team with contributions from team members across the group. Together, we research best practice, listen and learn to other experts, develop and deliver annual action plans and respond to emerging needs.

We have made considerable progress in our Climate Action journey with more actions planned for the coming year. For further details, please refer to the table below on page 3 onwards.

Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS)

FIRNS is a collaboration between the Scottish Government, NatureScot and the National Lottery
Heritage Fund. It supports environmental projects in Scotland aiming to leverage private finance to
achieve both nature restoration and social benefits following responsible investment principles. With
the support of Social Investment Scotland, a Community of Practice (CoP) has been established,
uniting FIRNS projects along with those from IRNS and Riverwoods Investment Readiness Pioneer
projects to share knowledge and enhance their impact.

Potential

SIS can realistically widen its scope into green finance by leveraging its established expertise in
climate finance and its strong network within the social enterprise sector. By focusing on partnerships
and collaborations, capacity building, pilot projects, innovative financing models and advocacy and
awareness, SIS could effectively support more climate and nature-based initiatives and drive further
positive environmental and social impact in Scotland.

Questions, Comments and Feedback

If you have any questions or would like to talk to us about any aspect of our Environmental practice
please contact Lindsay Wake, SIS Head of Impact and Communications at -

lindsay@socialinvestmentscotland.com

Read the full Climate Action Progress Report for January 2025 here.

Social Investment Scotland is committed to developing Earth-friendly practices as a global citizen, employer, investor, investee and sector intermediary.

Our mission is to connect capital with communities, to make a real, measurable, and sustainable impact on people’s lives.

We believe that Scotland should be playing a full role, in a global context, to build an impact economy that is aligned with the objectives of inclusive economic growth.

Through our 10-year strategy 2020 - 2030 ‘Building an Impact Economy’ we seek to minimise harm, maximise positive impacts for people and planet, and contribute solutions to some of society’s biggest challenges. It is impossible to do this without placing care for Earth as a central pillar of our work.

We published our Climate Action Statement in December 2022 [provide URL link] and laid out why we place importance on caring for and protecting our planet; our approach; SIS’s Earth-friendly actions so far, and our aspirations for the future.

In this progress report we summarise the key milestones reached in 2023 and our key priorities for the next 12 months in line with our Earth-friendly approach.

Progress
 
SIS’s environmental activities are led by a cross-team working group that research best practice, listen and learn, develop and deliver annual action plans, and respond to emerging needs on a more ad hoc basis.  

We have made considerable progress in our Climate Action journey. We have progressed internal and external work streams with further actions being considered during the coming year – for further details please see the table on the following pages.

Carbon Emissions 

In 2023 we completed an exercise to understand more about SIS’s Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions. Our total carbon emissions are in a range of 46.6 to 53 tonnes with the significant contributor Scope 3 (all indirect emissions, excluding those through purchased energy, that occur in our value chain). In 2024 we will work to further understand and minimise our carbon emissions.

Potential
 
Areas for further development include staff awareness, confidence and engagement with the Environmental journey using participatory approaches wherever possible and hold regular staff awareness and training sessions; supporting investees to reach their Environmental aims and targets providing enhanced tools to measure their Environmental impact and help source bespoke expert support for any Environmental focuses.

If you have any questions or would like to talk to us about any aspect of our Environmental practice please contact Lindsay Wake, SIS Head of Impact and Communications at lindsay@socialinvestmentscotland.com 

Read the full Climate Action Progress Report for December 2023 here.

Zero Waste Scotland’s goal is to inform policy, and motivate individuals and businesses to embrace the environmental, economic and social benefits of a circular economy. We partnered with Zero Waste Scotland to deliver the Social Enterprise Net Zero Fund and Circular Economy 360 series. 

Find out more about Zero Waste Scotland here.

SIS participates in Change Waste Recycling’s programme. Its unique capture system ensures we are recycling to the highest environmental standards. By viewing waste as a resource and recycling all its materials within the UK it supports the Circular Economy.

Find more about Change Waste Recycling here.

SIS donates all its un-needed IT equipment to the social enterprise The Turing Trust for re-use. The Turing Trust refurbishes IT equipment, installs a range of educational software and provides it to those who need it most. In the last 13 years they have enabled access to computers for over 169,000 students across Africa, Asia and the UK.

Find out more about the Turing Trust here.