by Vassiliki Tzanakou, independent curator, consultant, and cultural strategist
Summer 2023 set new temperature records on land and sea with raging wildfires burning millions of hectares of forests and torrential rains and flash floods devastating cities, villages and properties, including museums, heritage sites, and scores of cultural artifacts, across the globe. The need to act towards the protection of our natural habitat is becoming more and more urgent as the climate and ecological crisis is reaching a tipping point of no return. So, what has the art world done by now and what can we practically do as arts professionals to combat the climate crisis and pursue environmental justice?
The task seems particularly difficult considering the globalised character of the art world, which incorporates extensive international travelling, shipping, and high energy consumption for the running of Museums and the preservation of artworks, archives, and collections. However, the past few years the art industry has taken a number of significant initiatives towards fulfilling the Paris Agreement targets to reduce carbon emissions by 43% by 2030 and establish an environmental sustainable modus operandi. These include a series of strategic policies, the establishment of broad cross-sectoral collaborations, and the creation of practical toolboxes and guidelines.
Non-air travelling, non-air freight for artwork transport, and zero-waste practices, whenever possible, are considered essential. While the use of carbon footprint calculators is becoming a game changer, as it allows users to identify, monitor, and apply new practices to reduce carbon emissions to meet net-zero standards.
Museums were among the first to set the climate crisis at the top of their agenda with leading museums around the world declaring a climate and ecological emergency since 2019. The International Council of Museums (ICOM), representing 20,000 museums in 117 countries around the world, recently created a museum toolbox and launched a new Action Plan in partnership with the Climate Heritage Network (CHN) – a global, mutual support network of more than 250 cultural organisations, government agencies, NGOs, universities, and businesses, aiming to provide practical tools for its members and empower people to connect and realise climate action.
Green architecture for museums has also become a must. There are some fascinating examples of state-of-the-art green museums with designs that are technically, aesthetically, and environmentally exemplary, and which in fact are beneficial for the environment as they reverse existing environmental damage. The Bizot Green Protocol (2015) gives clear guidance to architects and engineers, and museum designs that fail to meet these standards do not go very far. For instance, the Museum of the 20th Century in Berlin, designed by the Swiss super-star architects Herzog and de Meuron, needed to halt its construction due to its poor environmental credentials as the architects failed to square aesthetics with eco- sustainability.
Heritage buildings are considered more challenging in achieving environmental targets. However, a combination of refurbishment projects and environmentally friendly practices can have significant outcomes. For instance, Spain’s Prado implemented a new LED lighting system which resulted in saving 75% of energy and reducing CO 2 emissions by 320 tons a year.
Beyond Museums, the post Covid-19 pandemic era saw art institutions and businesses taking serious and dynamic action towards reducing the sector’s CO2e emissions and applying zero-waste practices. In 2021, to accelerate the sector’s broad adoption of collective climate action, international art eco-organisations joined forces and founded the Partners for Arts Climate Targets (PACT). All coalition members offer to everyone free access to carbon calculator tools, relevant resources, as well as best practice guidelines via their websites.
Indicatively, PACT’s member Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC), founded in 2020 in London, is bringing under its umbrella artists, institutions, art businesses and professionals who are committed to creating a sustainable sector. Membership is free, but members need to submit annual carbon footprint reports. By now, the GCC counts six national branches and more than 900 members internationally, including leading art fairs, galleries, and artist studios, and its growth increases at an expediential rate. Museums need to embrace this dynamic, empower existing and instigate new synergies facilitating a holistic and more efficient climate action.
But let’s see what the numbers have to say. It is estimated that out of the 40 billion tonnes of carbon CO2e produced in 2019, around 70 million tonnes CO2e were attributed to art world related activities. Art shipment, work travel, and grid energy consumption produced around 18 million tonnes CO2e (26%), while audience travel made up an incredible 52 million tonnes CO2e (74%).
This means that even if museums, art organisations and businesses meet all targets set, it is the audience, who also needs to take immediate action to contribute to a systemic change towards the protection and restoration of our natural habitat. It is therefore of extreme significance for institutions and businesses to nurture environmental consciousness, increase awareness and educate audiences on practices that are minimising environmental damage.
The humanistic language of the visual arts is known for its ability to communicate messages to broad audiences facilitating systemic social change making artistic input an invaluable source for the fulfilment of environmental education. Artists have always been drawn to nature and from the late 1960’s onwards there has been a plethora of artistic actions, aesthetic, and philosophical investigations (environmental art, ecological art, land art, etc) that played a critical role in raising awareness of the harm humanity causes to our natural habitat. These voices need to be further empowered, and the provision of practical guidelines to audiences should accompany such exhibitions and events.
Taking into account that air travel is the most pollutant activity of audiences, alternative ways of travelling should be considered. The use of carbon emission calculators will provide people with an understanding of where they stand and facilitate them to adapt their travel habits. A trip from London to Basel, return, for instance, produces 420kg CO2 by plane or 20kg by train. Additionally, emphasis should be given to the support of local cultural production, local art institutions and businesses. It is important to highlight here that less than 10% of the global population travel by plane annually. Unfortunately, now there is a lack of viable alternatives to air travel for long distance journeys, hence reducing the number of flights is essential.
At the moment, apart from independent art spaces, pop-up exhibitions, public sculpture and so forth, there are around 300 Art Fairs a year, 250 Art Biennales bi-annually, 104,000 museums and 19,000 galleries globally. The art world needs to review its systemic structures having sustainability as a compass. If sacrifices are required, then the focus should be on quality over quantity. As arts professionals it is our responsibility to elevate cultural education as a more cultivated and selective audience will aid both the environment and culture, as only the most significant art will prevail.
Concerns that reduced travelling may have an impact on cultural exchange and social interaction can be tackled with rich artistic programming that balances the local with the international and the themed with the expansive. Although the digital domain cannot replace the physical experience of an artwork or a social event, it still has a lot to offer.
Digitation of collections and archives needs to continue as this will further facilitate audiences to engage with art produced globally and assist them to choose where to go and what to see. While digital social platforms, networks and events offer endless opportunities for dissemination of information, social interaction, and engagement, fulfilling the need to be informed and the desire to forge new relationships.
Finally, it would be beneficial to encourage audiences from within our physical and digital spaces to directly support significant environmental initiatives and organisations. Some of the most significant initiatives include ClientEarth, which uses existing environmental laws to challenge polluting projects around the world; Solar Aid, which works to help communities in Africa to use clean energy; Art to Acres, which works with local communities on large-scale land conservation projects; and the Forest Peoples Programme (FPP), which provides money directly to Indigenous groups whose lands are under threat.
Photo: Stephane Graff, Professore, Tree Intervention Series, 2021. Courtesy of the artist, all rights reserved.
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