The Art World Is Quietly Cutting Emissions Faster Than Expected, New Report Reveals

Last month’s COP30 in Brazil may not have been the most successful, given the notable absence of the U.S., which for the first time refused to send delegates, and the failure to reach an agreement on a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels. Negotiators remained deeply divided on climate finance, trade measures, mitigation pathways and how to implement agreed-upon goals. Still, the art world can celebrate some meaningful achievements in ecological sustainability in 2025, as revealed by the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC)’s landmark 2025 Stocktake Report. Published during London’s Art+Climate Week, the survey aggregates six years of data and insights, offering the first comprehensive analysis of the sector’s progress toward halving visual arts emissions by 2030.

“Having that greater level of understanding can make changes more effective,” Lowndes told Observer in a recent interview, speaking about the importance of the report in reassessing and refining GCC’s strategy for the years ahead. “The playbook that took us through COVID to now isn’t the same playbook that will take us from now until the end of the decade.”

The GCC findings reveal that 79 percent of members who began tracking their emissions when the coalition launched in 2019 have already reduced them by more than 25 percent, indicating that they are on track to achieve a 50 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. “2025 marks a critical halfway point: five years into what many have termed ‘the decisive decade for climate action’ and the midpoint of GCC’s ten-year strategy,” commented GCC Director Heath Lownde. “We are just five years from our goal of halving sector emissions and achieving near-zero waste by 2030.” At this midpoint, GCC’s strategic direction is to remain ambitious and to accelerate and strengthen its collective role as a cultural leader in the climate transition.

Based on what emerged at COP30, the world is now likely to overshoot the 1.5°C limit set by the Paris Agreement in the next decade, a stark reminder of the scale and speed of change still required, according to Lownde. For him, this moment is a call to action rather than defeat. Every sector, including the arts, has a role to play in driving systemic change. If the global art world can maintain its current trajectory, GCC calculates that the sector could collectively reduce its annual emissions by more than 5 million tonnes of CO₂e, equivalent to the yearly footprint of a small country.

With more than 2,000 members across over 30 countries, GCC is no longer a niche initiative in the art market but a cross-sector movement uniquely positioned to unite commercial, institutional and creative actors around shared environmental goals. Crucially, the coalition has always been open to new members, offering them sector-specific tools, guidelines and best practices at no cost. Each new member commits to reducing their carbon footprint and environmental impact, contributing through their own actions to the coalition’s shared objectives.

Six years in, the results are visible. The survey shows that environmental responsibility across the sector has steadily improved, with 80 percent of members now equipped with green teams, up from less than half in 2022, and more than half completing annual carbon reports, a critical step for accountability and for identifying where further progress is possible.

“You can’t set meaningful targets or cut emissions without understanding where those emissions are actually coming from,” Lowndes noted, explaining that the coalition’s recently upgraded carbon calculator, developed with support from the Getty Foundation, enables sharper and more precise emissions data across a wide range of sector-specific activities while still prioritizing usability. The tool makes it easier for galleries and institutions to access, interpret and act on the numbers. Emissions-reduction plans, long encouraged by the GCC, are now widespread. As sustainability becomes embedded in organizational culture and operations, art institutions and businesses are gaining greater power to reshape value systems and public imagination.

GCC’s findings reaffirm the “big three” areas where action matters most: flights, freight and building energy, which together account for 80-95 percent of operational emissions across all member types. Flights alone account for 43 percent of emissions, air freight for 26 percent, building energy for 14 percent and other transport and materials for the remaining 17 percent.

These proportions vary across the sector. For commercial galleries, 49 percent of emissions come from air freight, 36 percent from staff flights and just 15 percent from building energy. For nonprofits, building energy is the dominant factor, accounting for 68 percent of emissions, while air freight and staff flights together represent only 16 percent. Major fairs, predictably, see at least half of their total emissions coming from freight and 33 percent from staff flights, while auction houses generate 70 percent of their emissions from a combination of flights, freight and building energy.

Artists’ footprints vary widely depending on activity, scale and travel patterns. The average individual footprint is roughly 3.9 tCO₂e from flights, freight and energy, representing 72 percent of total emissions, with the remaining 28 percent stemming from materials, commuting and other activities. Although the art world remains a niche sector, GCC estimates that it still emits between 11 and 13 MtCO₂e per year. Matching the reductions already achieved by early adopters across the industry could cut emissions by 5 MtCO₂e by 2030.

On the operational side, GCC estimates that roughly 30 percent of the current footprint, including building energy, surface transport and materials, could be reduced through shifts to low-carbon alternatives with sufficient investment and effort, without radically altering existing practices. Because the majority of emissions come from aviation, however, a more fundamental rethink is required, particularly given today’s nonstop global calendar of fairs, openings and events that demand constant travel. In response, GCC has successfully launched its Sustainable Shipping Campaign, one of the organization’s early flagship initiatives focused on resource sharing, shipment consolidation and more innovative and greener practices across the supply chain.

Unsurprisingly, these emissions are heavily concentrated among larger operators. The largest 22 percent of organizations are responsible for roughly 50 percent of total sector emissions. Targeted action by this relatively small group of mega galleries and major players, including auction houses, could therefore drive significant change. At the same time, GCC emphasizes that collective action by smaller organizations and individual art professionals remains essential, as they make up 78 percent of the sector and account for the remaining half of emissions.

As economist Mariana Mazzucato argues, culture functions as a vital public infrastructure, generating the creativity and shared values that underpin flourishing societies. Throughout major historical and cultural shifts, art has consistently played a pivotal role in social change by introducing new ways of seeing and thinking. “Arts and culture are the foundations for reimagining alternative futures, fostering civic identity, and mobilizing collective action,” Mazzucato commented in a statement. By demonstrating sustainable practices backed by data and measurable results, the visual arts can amplify the climate message and help reshape public imagination, becoming a catalyst for the systemic change the world urgently needs.