Environmental Responsibility
Supporting organisations and individuals in the creative and cultural sector put Environmental Responsibility at the centre of how we work, where we work and who we work with.
Our environmental commitments
Our environmental commitments
At the Arts Council, we have an environmental policy and action plan in place, titled Our Environmental Responsibility: From Understanding to Action.
Launched in November 2021, the policy and plan summarise where we are in our own environmental journey, consider our environmental impacts and carbon footprint, and how we have been making changes.
In spring 2022, we also shared a report looking at the process we went through to understand our environmental impacts and how we have arrived at our specific policy, targets and priorities. In sharing this process, including the findings and insights we’ve gained along the way, it is our hope that others can benefit too.
Our Action Plan details the steps we’re taking to reduce our environmental impacts.
Our Environmental Responsibility Investment Principle
Our Environmental Responsibility Investment Principle
As part of our strategy for the next ten years, Lets Create, we’ve set out four Investment Principles which we think individual creative practice and cultural organisations should embody in order to be the best they can be.
One of those Investment Principles in Environmental Responsibility, and we’ve made a range of resources available to help you embed environmental thinking in everything you do.
Take a look at the resources
Our Environmental Programme
Our Environmental Programme
As the climate and nature crisis accelerates, the sector is needed more than ever, to focus our talent on this moment and the solutions we need.
We’re working in partnership with Julie’s Bicycle to deliver an ambitious Environmental Programme for National Portfolio Organisations and the wider creative and cultural sector.
Creative Climate Tools
Creative Climate Tools
The Creative Climate Tools allow you to measure your energy use, water consumption, waste generation and recycling, travel and production materials and produce results to inform your environmental strategy and organisational priorities.
There are several benefits to using the tools:
- Calculating your carbon footprint can help you to identify and understand key areas of your environmental impacts, to be able to plan and take action
- The data submitted can feed into your business plans, to improve your business operations and practices
- Reporting from the tools can be used to feedback to your boards
- Reporting and stories from the tools can be used in your marketing, to celebrate successes and progress, or talk about challenges and learning.
If you’re a National Portfolio or Investment Principles Support Organisation, you can also use the tools to help show progress against your Investment Principles Plan.
Our annual Environmental Report
Our annual Environmental Report
Each year we publish a report on the environmental impact of the organisations we fund.
In 2022/23, the report offers insights into the creative and cultural sector’s continuing commitment to Environmental Responsibility, showing success stories and how organisations are understanding and reducing their environmental impact.
