The future's bright!

29 May 2012

At our Exeter HQ we have been considering PV cells (which convert sunlight into energy) since 2008. We have recently awarded the contract to an Exeter based firm and work is now well under way.

The array will consist of 1,000 solar panels and will stretch for 150 m. It is hoped that it will generate 221,000 kW hours of electricity per year. On a sunny day the cells will generate enough energy to run one of our three supercomputers.

Solar panel array gives more information.

Choosing our next Corporate Charity

16 April 2012

The three year tenure of ShelterBox as our Corporate Charity is due to end in June 2012 so we have begun the process of choosing the next one.

We are now seeking applications from charities who are keen to be our next Corporate Charity from July 2012 for a period of three years. N.B. that the successful charity must show an affinity for our work and our sustainability commitment.

Choosing our Corporate Charity for more details and and application form.

ShelterBox commemorates its relationship with the Met Office

23 March 2012

ShelterBox has been our corporate charity for the past three years. This relationship will come to an end in June 2012. 23 March 2012 was world Meteorological Day. On 23 March 1950 the world Meteorological Organisation was formed. ShelterBox celebrated the day by commemorating its relationship with the Met Office.

As well as raising money for the charity (in excess of £10,000 since 2012) the Met Office provides daily updates of global weather information. ShelterBox benefits by knowing where its next call for help may come from.

Wear yellow to work day

7 March 2012

Friday 2 March was wear something yellow to work day in Marie Curie. The day was supported at Met Office Aberdeen as well as at Exeter HQ.

Staff were encouraged to register and donate at least £2. They then received a Marie Curie daffodil and a raffle ticket. Raffle prizes included whiskey, wine, chocolates and a trip to the Exeter races.

A selection of cakes and tray bakes were also sold, further boosting the money raised. The event was a success with a splash of colour added and some people really made an effort with their outfits.

In the fitness classes at lunch time and after work the participants were encouraged to wear yellow outfits.

The total raised was a just over £1400 (including gift aid). Thanks to all those who supported the event.

Supporting Marie Curie gives more information on our links with Marie Curie since 2008.

12 to 18 March 2012 is Climate Week

Climate Week is Britain's biggest climate change campaign.The aim is to inspire people to create a sustainable future. The inaugural Climate Week was help in 2011 and half a million people took part in around 3,000 events which were run by schools, businesses, charities and councils.

The  Climate week 2012 website.

A five-minute conversation you have today, with someone such as your boss or a teacher, could result in hundreds of people becoming involved during Climate Week in action to combat climate change.

Our biodiversity efforts are recognised in The Environmentalist

25 January 2012

We are proud of our sustainability efforts. Our biodiversity efforts at home and abroad continue to generate a lot of interest and positive publicity. Neal Pearce, our environmental advisor was recently interviewed by the environmentalist, the UK's leading environmental magazine. The 3 page article below was published in the January 2012 edition.

Environmentalist article (PDF, 981 kB)

This article first appeared in the January 2012 issue of  the environmentalist the monthly publication of the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment.

Met Office to support the Marie Curie wear something yellow to work day

20 January 2012

The Met Office will be supporting this event on 2 March 2012.

Staff are encouraged to wear something yellow and make a donation to Marie Curie of at least £2. Staff can dress up as boldly as they wish or they may simply choose to wear a Marie Curie daffodil.

Some teams within the Met Office will be selling cakes and there will also be a raffle.

A great opportunity to have a fun day at work and raise some money for a very worthy cause.

Wear something yellow

Our corporate magazine, Barometer is now online

17 January 2012

Barometer has been our corporate magazine for a number of years. The magazine is now available online and contains a number of interesting sustainability articles.

Barometer. Our corporate magazine

The latest issue has articles on sustainability at the Met Office and our achieving of the Wildlife Trusts' Biodiversity Benchmark Award.

Diversity declaration goes live

17 January 2012

The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination on the grounds of their Protected Characteristics.

The Met Office is committed to respecting and valuing diversity. Respecting and valuing each other's differences benefits our staff, our organisation and those we work with.

Our diversity declaration is a short, anonymous online questionnaire and all staff are encouraged to complete it.

This information will help us to create anonymous information about the Met Office from time to time.

This data will help us to make a positive difference.

Free cooling featured in South West Surveyor

20 December 2011

Our efforts to find more sustainable ways of keeping our powerful supercomputer cool have been recognised in South West Surveyor, Winter/Spring 2012.

Our free cooling system vastly reduces the need for mechanical cooling.

Our free cooling efforts are recognised (PDF, 658 kB)

Met Office Awards for Excellence - sustainability category

7 December 2011

Our annual awards for excellence ceremony was held on 7 December with awards presented by our Chief Executive, John Hirst.

The sustainability award was accepted by Naomi Lawrence on behalf of the Met Office Weather Desk team.

The Weather Desk regularly offers work placements to young adults with a disability.

As John Hirst announced the winner he read a statement from one of the young adults who regularly works with the team.

She said that working with the Weather Desk team was a very rewarding experience and had really improved her self-confidence.

Public sector sustainability awards

7 December 2011

The winners of the Public Sector Sustainability Awards have just been announced. The standard of entries was excellent, diverse and from a cross section of all public sector bodies.

We are pleased to say that we were victorious in the Most Sustainable Organisation (Government) category.

Can we fill a ShelterBox?

5 December 2011

ShelterBox will be our corporate charity until the end of June. We're having a final push to raise one final generous donation.

At our Exeter HQ we have have a ShelterBox crate and we are asking staff to donate. A bit of spare change here and there soon mounts up.

A Just Giving page has been set up for Met Office staff who are not based at Exeter.

To date we have raised enough money for over 15 crates.

Others reporting on our biodiversity efforts 

1 December 2011

Our efforts in achieving the Wildlife Trust Biodiversity Benchmark Award have been reported in the  Devon Wildlife Trust Winter 2011 magazine. We've also been recognised in MOD Sanctuary 40 (PDF, 10 MB) .

Marie Curie boxes

1 December 2011

Our Marie Curie collection boxes were handed in to the Tiverton office in November and the total was £189.33.

Recognized for encouraging biodiversity

29 July 2011

One of our targets for FY 2011/12 was to achieve the Certified sites and organisations.

Met Office recognised for encouraging biodiversity

Shortlisted for a sustainability award

12 July 2011

The Met Office's Procurement Team submitted a nomination to the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) 'Supply Management Awards 2011' under the Best Contribution to Corporate Responsibility category.

This submission was in recognition of the success of a cross-functional team of Procurement, Property Management and IT that worked on a number of initiatives to reduce the energy consumption impact of the Supercomputer.

Striking gold for corporate responsibility

16 June 2011

We are delighted to announce that we have achieved Gold in Business in the Community's (BITC) 2011 Corporate Responsibility Index (CRI), the UK's leading voluntary benchmark of corporate responsibility.