Arts Council England Environmental Report 2014/15

Sustaining Great Art presents the results of a three year partnership between Arts Council England and Julie’s Bicycle to track the environmental impacts of over 700 arts organisations across England and inspire them to be more environmentally sustainable.

Reflecting on progress over three years, the final results of environmental reporting are compelling:

98% of reporting Arts Council funded organisations (699) were involved by 2015 as compared to 14% in 2012.
80% now consider themselves engaged or very engaged with environmental sustainability.
12,673 tonnes of CO2 emissions saved with an average 5% decrease in emissions each year, despite growth of the sector.
51% reported financial benefits, and 70% found their environmental policy useful when applying for funding.
Scaling these results up across all cultural buildings in the UK would see annual savings of £15m.

This ground breaking programme was first launched in 2012, when the Arts Council became the first funding body in the world to make environmental reporting a requirement of funding. In 2015 the programme was extended until 2018 and widened to encompass both funded and non-funded arts organisations.

We will continue to work with them on improving and developing environmental resilience and leadership through a programme of events, workshops and ongoing support for both funded organisations and the wider arts sector.