During Climate Week NYC (21st-28th September, 2025), Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) and ClientEarth (CE) will launch Artists for Climate Action, a new joint initiative that harnesses the influence and generosity of leading artists to deliver urgent climate action. A series of donated artworks will help to accelerate the visual arts sector’s transition to sustainable operations through GCC, and to power ClientEarth’s high-impact legal action that defends ecosystems, communities and the global climate.
Timed for Climate Week NYC, the launch of this partnership aims to cross pollinate the art world and climate action initiatives: encouraging new approaches to supporting climate action in the arts, and providing the art community with an entry point to the climate activism taking place across the city.
The partnership will be inaugurated by the donation of a work from artist Suzanne Jackson (via Ortuzar) at a special Climate Week event at The Hotel Chelsea hosted by a committee of artists and cultural figures, including artist Cecily Brown, museum curator Frances Morris, artist Josh Kline, curator Legacy Russell, curator Lydia Yee, artist Mika Rottenberg, artist Jenny Holzer, and artist Beatriz Milhazes.
Artists for Climate Action formalises a proven model established; in 2021 GCC coordinated an auction series in partnership with Christie’s, which raised $6.6 million for ClientEarth with the help of artworks donated by Cecily Brown, Rashid Johnson, Xie Nanxing, Beatriz Milhazes and Antony Gormley. The partnership will operate as a streamlined philanthropy platform for leading artists and galleries to raise funds to combat the climate emergency by donating original works and editions. Donors and buyers can also make direct financial contributions to support the programme, with tax-deductibility details for US and UK donors also provided.
Director of GCC, Heath Lowndes said –
“The climate crisis is the defining challenge of our time. Art is uniquely positioned to respond as both a cultural force and a global industry with enormous influence. With a single contribution, supporters can achieve impact at two scales: systemic change within the arts sector, and frontline legal action that protects nature, communities, and the planet’s future.”
ClientEarth CEO, Laura Clarke said –
“Art changes minds. Law changes outcomes. Artists for Climate Action brings these forces together at a critical moment for our planet. Together with Gallery Climate Coalition we’re inviting the art world to fund action that makes art sustainable, defends nature, and protects people and communities now, and in the future.”
About
Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) is a non-profit membership organisation and the leading international initiative mobilising the visual arts for climate action. With 2,000+ members across 60 countries representing 25,000+ arts professionals, GCC provides free tools, resources and standards that help the sector cut emissions, reduce waste and embed environmental responsibility. Through campaigns, advocacy and community building, GCC leverages the cultural influence of the arts to drive systemic change.
ClientEarth is an international environmental law charity that uses the power of the law to protect life on Earth. Working across Europe, Asia, and beyond, ClientEarth tackles climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and corporate accountability. Combining legal expertise, science and policy, ClientEarth holds governments and businesses to account and secures systemic change for a healthy, just and sustainable future. That hard-hitting strategy has a proven track record of success around the globe: ClientEarth have exposed the greenwashing of some of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies, brought about the end of Europe’s biggest coal plant, helped protect Africa’s last great rainforest from illegal logging and so much more
ClientEarth USA, staffed by a team of expert litigators, is committed to changing the destructive practices of America’s biggest companies. ClientEarth USA is an independent 501(c)(3) organization that operates as part of the global ClientEarth network of branches, representative offices, subsidiaries and partners, working in over 60 countries, with a shared vision of a future where people and planet thrive together.
