The Reality of Art Visitors and Carbon Emissions.
Julies Bicycle published a landmark report of the estimated greenhouse gas emissions for the global art sector in April 2021. The report calculated data for 2019, and estimated that total emissions for the global art sector amounted to 70 million tonnes of CO2 per year. This is roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of Singapore.
The most eye opening statistic is that 74% of emissions are from visitor travel to art museums, art fairs and galleries. 11% of emissions come from public art museums, 7% from artists studios and 5% from commercial art galleries, all of which include energy use, art shipping and business travel. It is however the reality of visitor travel to art museums and events that makes up by far the largest portion of emissions for global art.
This clearly has significant implications for the future of reducing the greenhouse gas footprint of the art sector. Museums and art events rely on diverse publics to engage with them, and bring in income. The very nature of an exhibition is based on the idea that things are displayed for many people to come and experience them. And yet it is precisely this public oriented aspect of the art world that is responsible for the largest emissions of CO2.
Organizations such as the Gallery Climate Coalition have provided well researched and concise information on how the art world can reduce its carbon footprint. There is much that can be done relatively easily, from shifting energy suppliers to sustainable sources, cutting down on air freight and air travel, re-using packaging and simply being more conscious of one’s ecological responsibilities. However, visitor travel is a difficult and complex issue that is often beyond the scope of what museums and galleries can control.
However, even here, there are certain things that can be done. For example:
- Develop regional and more local touring exhibition models that do not rely on long distance visitor travel.
- Offer incentives for low carbon transport options, like walking, cycling and public transport. Offer reduced price or free entry to exhibitions for visitors that travel on low emissions options.
- Lobby and support for local investments in better public transport, cycling infrastructures etc.
- Install electric car charging points at museums and galleries.
Of course depending on where a museum is located, and its annual budgets etc, even these actions may be difficult. The balance between economic, business and ecological realities will be different for every institution, and ultimately it will be for each organization to think deeply how they relate to the climate crisis.
One thing is becoming clear though: as industry, business and everyday life is affected by the climate and biodiversity crisis, there will be tipping points for organizations that take action and those that dont. In the art sector, those organizations that choose not to act may find themselves increasingly isolated from market initiatives, foundation grant possibilities, art work loans and media exposure.
One example of targeted funding was launched in the United States in 2021. The Helen Frankenthaler Climate Initiative is an energy and climate grant program, and one of the first of its kind in the world. The Initiative funds energy efficiency and clean energy generation projects in the visual arts sector, awarding substantial technical and mitigation grants to large and small sized museums across America. There are new climate action networks being formed among art fairs, possibly leading to participation guidelines or recommendations. This would mean that galleries who wish to participate in certain fairs would need to prove their environmental responsibility. Although at present this level of oversight has not been enacted, it seems only a matter of time before we begin to see such climate standards being effectively initiated. Similarly we will begin to see more artists putting pressure on galleries, museums and biennales, regarding the climate crisis. Artists have a unique voice in this debate, holding considerable power as agents of social change. The Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) is one organization that has been interviewing artists about their climate actions and publishing this information on their blogs, among them Tino Sehgal who has practices low impact travel for many years.
We are reaching a turning point in how we think about art spaces, visitor experience and travel.
- 1
- 2
