As rosh chodesh Shvat ushers in Tu B’Shvat - the “New Year for the Trees” and a time to celebrate growth and renewal - OLAM is reflecting on our own efforts to embrace climate responsibility. We asked Emma Weleminsky, OLAM’s UK Community Manager, to share what steps OLAM is taking to deepen our commitment to environmental sustainability, and what we are doing to encourage others to join us.

As a member of Adamah’s Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, OLAM is preparing its Climate Action Plan for 2025, in which we will recommit to mitigating our carbon footprint. As a largely remote organisation with a strong focus on online programs, our largest emissions stem from in-person gatherings, especially our international Focal Point conference. 

While developing our first Climate Action Plan in 2024, we engaged in team-wide learning and collective brainstorming to think about how we could address these challenges.

Some key steps we’ve taken include:

• Sustainable food choices: At Focal Point, we are committed to serving primarily vegan (and entirely vegetarian) meals. We also now serve exclusively vegan food at our smaller-scale events. In order to reduce waste, we encourage participants at all events to take home leftover food. 
  

• Travel: We have developed guidelines to help OLAM staff and conference participants choose methods of travel associated with the least carbon emissions. We also offset all staff flights.
  

• Education: We have included sessions about the climate crisis at our past two Focal Point conferences, further fostering awareness across our network.

Looking ahead to 2025, we plan to build on this work, in several ways:

• Transparency: We’ll make our food and transportation policies publicly available, providing an opportunity for others to adopt similar policies if they wish to do so.
  

• Waste reduction: We will work with local food-rescue and composting organizations to renew our efforts to reduce food waste associated with Focal Point where possible.
  

• Expanded education: Through our Aspire program, we will continue to offer climate-focused webinars, promote our Climate Practices Spectrum,  and highlight resources on our dedicated climate resources page. Next month, participants in our study trip to Rwanda will have the opportunity to learn firsthand about climate-friendly initiatives there. Additionally, our Learning Circles will delve into the Jewish response to the climate crisis this year, fostering a deeper understanding of how Jewish values and teachings can guide meaningful action.

• Celebrating nature: OLAM has decided to dedicate one work day this year to celebrate “joy in nature,” to give each staff member time to reflect on their personal relationship with the environment, and where possible, to take an action to benefit nature.

It is fitting that the deadline for submitting our Climate Action Plan aligns with Tu B’Shvat, a time traditionally used to calculate the age of trees for the tithing system, which has since evolved into a broader celebration of renewal and environmental responsibility. We are proud to embrace this moment to take stock of our progress and set ambitious goals for the year ahead.

If you want to learn more about climate-friendly steps your organization can take, we invite you to explore OLAM’s Climate Practices Spectrum and our climate resources page, developed as part of our Aspire ethical practices program, as well as our climate-focused Aspire webinars:‍

• Preparing for the Future: Climate Resilience and Adaptation of Local Communities‍
• Reducing Your Carbon Footprint: Practical Steps
• Minimizing Environmental Impact in the Field 

These tools provide practical guidance for all organizations aiming to mitigate emissions, recognizing that the climate crisis affects every aspect of our collective work—whether supporting refugees, funding education, or coordinating global service programs. Together, we can take meaningful action to mitigate emissions and embrace climate responsibility.