Frances Morris, the former director of Tate Modern, has been appointed as the inaugural chair of the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC), an international membership organisation which provides environmental sustainability guidelines for the art sector.
GCC describes it primary targets as facilitating a reduction of the visual art sector’s greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 50% by 2030—in line with the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global warming to below 1.5°C—and promoting zero-waste practices. The coalition is a registered charity which relies on donations.
In 2019, during Morris’s tenure, Tate declared a climate and ecological emergency and announced new sustainability-focused and environmentally friendly initiatives across its four galleries. She tells The Art Newspaper: “One of the big narratives for me at Tate was how the art world and institutions respond to climate emergency. When I left Tate Modern I was no longer part of that conversation. I have been looking for a way of getting back.
“As chair of GCC I will be regaining an advocacy role at this crucial moment when it feels like the world has dropped the ball on climate crisis. GCC is a unique non-profit because it operates across different parts of the sector supporting public and private interests.”
Over the past five years, GCC has introduced tools and resources such as the Carbon Calculator, which offers members a free and effective way to audit their consumption, a GCC commitment. “With 18,000 users, it has become the foundation of arts’ organisations environmental impact monitoring and decarbonisation strategy,” says the GCC.
Last year GCC initiated an Art Fair Co-Commitment Statement and Art Fair Toolkit for Environmental Responsibility, which was backed by 13 organisations representing more than 40 art fairs including Art Basel and Frieze. The toolkit aims to “create a consensus on new operating standards and key strategies”, with the aim of halving carbon emissions by 2030.
In a statement, GCC says: “2025 marks GCC’s fifth anniversary and a pivotal moment, equidistant from its 2020 launch and its 2030 sector-wide targets. At the midway point of this critical decade for climate action, GCC will use 2025 to assess progress and accelerate impact.” Its trustees include the gallerists Thomas Dane and Kate MacGarry along with Victoria Siddall, the director of London’s National Portrait Gallery.
The Art Newspaper column, Green is the New Black, covers how the art world is responding to our collective climate and environmental emergency.
