Richard Smith

Richard Smith is Head of Climate and Sustainability for English Heritage.  He is responsible for the delivery of the charity’s Climate Action Plan, which aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2035 and make climate adaptations to the 400+ sites in the charity’s care.  Prior to his current role, Richard was Head of Sustainability at the University of Manchester and before that, lead on sustainability at the BBC.  He created a carbon calculator which is now used by thousands of production teams to estimate the emissions of TV programmes and co-founded the “Albert” partnership with BAFTA to promote sustainability in the screen arts.

Richard Smith will be speaking at the Green Museums Summit 2025 :

Climate Change and Sustainability at English Heritage

Often heritage is seen as a barrier to action, on the contrary, we are keen to show that even with challenging circumstances the heritage sector can both contribute to a sustainable future and inspire others to act. However, it is essential that we collaborate, learning from one another to deliver rapid action. Whilst our climate action plan is in its infancy, we are proud of the impact of our actions, with many more planned, reducing our impact on the world and improving climate resilience. We will discuss our action across English Heritage, focusing on key messages and lessons learnt.