Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) and a new alliance of art fairs, including Frieze and Art Basel have announced a unified commitment to leading the art world in combating climate change.
GCC’s Art Fair Co-Commitment Statement and Art Fair Toolkit for Environmental Responsibility represent an unprecedented inter-fair alliance and roadmap for change. United by the understanding that the climate crisis will disrupt the visual arts sector as we know it, 13 organisations representing more than 40 art fairs have committed to a consensus on new standards of operating.
Art fairs have a profound influence on the wider art market and its supply chain. From emissions data published by GCC members, a typical commercial gallery might expect one-third of its annual carbon emissions to be associated with art fair activities and air freight, specifically making up an estimated 70% of that figure. As well as transportation of artworks via air freight, the main direct environmental impacts of international art fairs come from air travel, energy consumption in venues, and the generation of significant volumes of single-use materials waste.
The participating art fairs recognise that international alignment across the sector will be fundamental for change. This alliance welcomes all other art fairs to join and take action together. There is no competition when it comes to the climate emergency.
The Art Fair Co-Commitment Statement contains a commitment to at least a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade. It outlines best practices for environmental responsibility; ensures all fairs are measuring, reporting and actively reducing greenhouse gas emissions and waste; aligns communications between fairs and their audiences regarding the environment; and encourages fairs to use their influence and platforms to inspire climate action across their networks and supply chains.
The Art Fair Toolkit for Environmental Responsibility provides a roadmap to reducing the impact of art fair operations and is the first action-focussed resource developed by the GCC which is specific to the activities of art fairs. Containing practical steps, terminology, methodology, targets and strategies, it was collectively workshopped and developed from a pool of information provided by each fair, including emissions data, internal analysis, and case studies.
The art fair signatories of the Art Fair Co-Commitment Statement are:
ARCO, Art Basel, CHART, Easyfairs, ESTE ARTE, Frieze, Liste Art Fair Basel, Market Art Fair, Ramsay Fairs, STAGE Bregenz, TEFAF, The Art Show & Untitled Art.
You can read The Art Fair Co-Commitment Statement in full here; the Art Fair Toolkit for Environmental Responsibility can be accessed here.
Heath Lowndes, Director, Gallery Climate Coalition said:
We are now deep into the era of climate breakdown with its devastating impacts reverberating across the world. In light of this, leading art fairs have recognised that there is no more business as usual. For the art sector that has meant facing up to some hard truths about how it operates and starting to adapt practices accordingly. The collaborative approach in making this groundbreaking statement – as well as the work that has gone into creating the shared resource – is a testament to the potential for collective action to lead to systematic changes. We thank the fairs for contributing their time, data, and expertise to develop the toolkit with us and celebrate them for committing to take action inline with the guidance contained within it. In transcending market competition to work collaboratively they have set an impressive example for others in the sector to follow. We hope this will act as a springboard, propelling us into positive action and allowing the arts community to go further, faster.
If you work at or run an art fairs and are interested in joining the alliance, contact info@galleryclimatecoalition.org
Gallery Climate Coalition is an international coalition of 1500+ arts organisations and professionals working to reduce the visual art sector’s environmental impacts. GCC’s primary goal is to facilitate a reduction of the sector’s CO2 emissions by a minimum of 50% by 2030, as well as promoting zero waste practices. The organisation develops and shares best practice, provides leadership on sector specific environmental issues, and works to leverage the collective power of its membership to achieve systemic changes.
GCC’s recent initiatives also include Strategic Climate Funds, the Artist Toolkit, and a newly updated Carbon Calculator tool. Policies like the Strategic Climate Fund challenge the mainstream approach to financing environmental initiatives, advising galleries to move their members away from the conventional carbon offsetting market by offering a fairer and more effective alternative.
Designed to support urgent decarbonisation in the visual arts, the Carbon Calculator is a crucial part of GCC’s provision of resources to galleries, garnering more than 18,000 users and becoming the foundation of arts organisations’ environmental impact monitoring and decarbonisation strategy. Artists have diverse avenues to take action and the Artist Toolkit brings together practical ideas, actions and resources to support artists in addressing the climate crisis. From effective actions to a comprehensive resource index, as well as a blueprint for creating an environmental responsibility rider, the Toolkit equips artists with the means to effect tangible change.
As a registered charity that relies on voluntary donations to maintain operations, GCC does not operate for profit and provides tools and resources free of charge. For further information on GCC’s best practice guidelines for shipping, travel, energy, waste, packaging and more, please follow this link.
