Report
  • Posted on January 16th, 2024

Arts Council England Environmental Responsibility Report 2022/2023

Person standing in front of a globe light that reads 'To the Dreamers of Tomorrow'

Arts Council England (ACE) publishes its Environmental Responsibility Annual Report 2022-2023, a publication which presents National Portfolio Organisations (NPO) environmental data and narratives for the period of 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023

Julie’s Bicycle CEO, Alison Tickell said: “It’s eight years since the gavel landed emphatically on the COP21 negotiating table around which world leaders had gathered to reach consensus on keeping the global mean temperature under 2 degrees of warming. The original commitment, subsequently revised down to 1.5 degrees, was a triumph of diplomacy, multilateral cooperation and good sense.

2023 was the first time that a reckoning of international progress was undertaken by the UNFCCC. The Global Stocktake was the backdrop for the COP28 climate talks in Dubai. In short, whilst there has been progress far more needs to be done. Culture was also on the agenda, hosting the first Culture Pavilion, and, significantly, a High Level Ministerial Meeting starting a process which would integrate culture into climate policy. So it was a good moment for our own Cultural Stocktake of what the portfolio has achieved over 11 years of light touch, but sustained effort, and what’s needed now. “

Report highlights include: 

  • 94% of funded organisations include environmental sustainability in core business strategies
  • 74% have programmed or produced work exploring environmental themes
  • Overall, there has been a 20% reduction in energy use across the portfolio over the last five years, and a 50% emissions reduction since reporting began in 2012.

Read the full report


NPO Case studies

Organisations have done much more than reduce their energy use, from citizens’ assemblies to climate justice work. Read our case studies to find out more.

Barnsley Museums

Watershed

Talking Birds

The Courtyard

Kettle’s Yard

Peer

Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Oxford Contemporary Music

Manchester Craft and Design Centre

Kiln Theatre


Image credit – Dear Tomorrow x Dear Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

Resource Materials

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