Sustainability and social responsibility (SSR)

Protecting the environment

Our net zero carbon plan sets out how we will reduce our environmental impact. We aim to reach net zero by:

• 2030 for emissions from our fuel use and purchased electricity
• 2040 for wider emissions, including our supply chain and travel.

We will reduce emissions as much as possible before offsetting those that remain.

Our progress

Between 2019 and 2025, our reported carbon footprint fell by 31%, using a market-based approach that takes account of our electricity purchasing choices.

We have improved energy efficiency, switched to renewable electricity tariffs, and reduced business travel emissions. We also reuse furniture and donate older laptops to help reduce waste.

Our next steps

Our supply chain remains our largest source of emissions. We are working to understand suppliers’ sustainability practices, improve energy efficiency in our offices, and reduce travel emissions.

We review our emissions annually to track progress.

Read our net zero carbon plan 2026.

Promoting social mobility

In 2025, we welcomed seven apprentices to teams across the GMC, including business planning, information services, investigations, and the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service. Apprenticeships offer career opportunities to people who may not have access to further education or who particularly benefit from learning on the job.

We also began using apprenticeships to support current colleagues. Heads of section joined leadership programmes, and colleagues working in data, research and insights enrolled on data-related courses.

We want young people to have a fair and equal opportunity to become doctors. In 2025, we hosted events for Melanin Medics and The Aspiring Medics. Both organisations support ethnic diversity and wider participation in UK medical training and careers for students from low socio-economic backgrounds. The events included tutorials and talks.

We also welcomed students from medical schools at Edge Hill, Leeds, Lancaster and Leicester universities to our Manchester office. All had entered medical training through a widening participation scheme.

Supporting the community

In May 2023 we launched a new initiative to repurpose older generation laptops in the organisation and donate them to small community organisations across the UK. We have been working with Business in the Community to distribute these by the end of the year. We are hoping to extend this scheme in 2024 to include more electronic equipment.

We also continue to support the Royal Voluntary Service’s Befriending Scheme. Through the scheme, volunteer members of staff have weekly companionship phone calls with people at risk of being lonely or isolated. The scheme provides invaluable support to elderly people, and many of our volunteers have formed lasting connections with the people they call.

Colleagues have also continued to take part in our volunteer reading scheme. The volunteers spend time twice a week reading with secondary school students who need additional support with literacy. We have seen impressive results from programme participants, with some students showing reading age improvements of up to seven years within an academic year. 

And throughout 2023, some of our in-house coaches supported a Business in the Community initiative guiding long-term unemployed individuals seeking to re-enter the workplace, while others worked with senior leaders in a small environmental charity, helping our coaches and the charity workers alike build confidence in their respective fields. 

Benchmarking and working with partners to promote SSR

We play an active role within the Cross-regulator CSR Group, whose membership recently expanded further and now also includes:

• The Nursing and Midwifery Council
• General Dental Council
• General Pharmaceutical Council
• Health and Care Professionals Council
• Social Work England
• General Chiropractic Council
• General Optical Council. 

The group meets regularly throughout the year, discussing topics such as the regulation of sustainable healthcare, environmental matters, and responsible procurement. 

We worked with the Medical Schools Council on our annual awareness-raising competition for medical students. In 2025, we asked students to create online content explaining why sustainability in healthcare is a duty in our core guidance for doctors.

The winning entry was a short video by a second-year medical student at King’s College London. The judges praised its innovative approach.