As outlined here, this does not necessarily mean donating to external organisations, although we do strongly encourage doing this with at least part of your SCF, and have identified some great options (below) for how to do it effectively. The fund can also be used internally to directly reduce the environmental impacts of your operations and ‘greening’ your own operations and supply chain.

GCC would expect any organisations who can afford it to already be making these investments as part of their 2030 decarbonisation plan, in addition to any money they might put aside in an SCF. 

 

Larger commercial organisations with very sizeable carbon footprints might find that 1-2% of revenue or £50-100 per carbon tonne results in too large an amount of money to feasibly commit entirely to external projects. In these cases, it might be acceptable to take a hybrid approach, spending some of the resultant SCF on external initiatives, and some on accelerating the speed of their own internal reductions. Any GCC members thinking of taking this approach should speak to us first, to ensure that this is being done in a way that creates real carbon reductions that would not otherwise have happened.

Based on this, GCC has developed some suggestions on how to spend SCFs on External Donations and Internal Investments, outlined below.

 

 

 

What Claims Can I Make for Using the SCF System?

Unlike conventional offsetting, SCFs do not entitle individuals or organisation to make claims about  ‘Carbon/Climate Neutrality’ or of achieving ‘Net Zero’. No certificate is awarded for paying into the scheme and no verification of environmental credentials is given for following the process.

GCC instead recommends members to include details about donations / investments in their Environmental Responsibility Statement and use their platform to communicate about the projects they have engaged in and the impact that may have had, without making any of the claims outlined above.

 

 


Spending SCFs: ‘External Donations’

GCC Strategic Climate Fund Partners 

In line with the SCF Partner Selection Criteria (below), we’ve chosen projects that span three major areas where urgent climate action is needed: 

  1. Defending and expanding forests and wetlands.
  2. Shifting to climate-friendly agriculture.
  3. Keeping fossil fuels in the ground.

GCC is confident that all of these schemes will have a positive impact within our 2030 timeline

1. Defending and Preserving Forests

The projects below approach this issue from two angles: the immediate defence of forests that are under threat now, and the setting up of longer-term protection plans to keep them safe into the future.

Rainforest Action Network

Millions of acres of rainforest are under direct threat right now from logging, industrial agriculture and extractive projects, as detailed in this devastating report from the Forest Peoples' Programme. The most important frontline defenders of these forests are the people who live there, particularly Indigenous peoples, who have a history of scoring crucial victories in defence of their lands - such as blocking a swathe of new oil drilling permits in Peru or a giant open cast coal mine in Brazil.

To help people achieve more of these victories, Rainforest Action Network has set up a "Protect an Acre" fund, where your money will go to local communities who are taking a stand right now against destructive projects. These funds are given out as grants to threatened communities who need them, especially Indigenous groups, and are helping to make a difference in some of the most urgent struggles for climate safety on the planet right now. Donate here and learn more about the fund here.

Art to Acres

Art to Acres works with local communities on large-scale land conservation projects. It has helped provide legal status and protection to millions of hectares of rainforest land in partnership with Indigenous peoples and other local communities. There are many more large areas of global forest where local people have persuaded their governments to apply these protections in theory, but the resources have not been available for them to make sure they are implemented. Donating to Art to Acres can help make these protections a reality in more places, keeping huge amounts of carbon safely locked up in forests for years to come. Donate to Art to Acres here.

2. Supporting Regenerative Agriculture

AgroEcology Fund

AgroEcology Fund supports inspiring projects around the world that are changing the way we produce food. Industrial agriculture is a huge source of emissions - not just from fuel use and livestock, but nitrous emissions from fertilisers and massive amounts of carbon due to short-sighted soil management. Agroecology (combining traditional methods of farming with appropriate renewable technology) doesn't just prevent emissions in the short term, it has the potential to pull huge amounts of carbon back into the soil in the longer term, while supporting local livelihoods and sustainably feeding the world. Read more about the Agroecology Fund here and donate here.  

3. Cutting Fossil Fuel Use

Solar Aid

Solar Aid works to help communities in Africa ‘leapfrog’ over dirty energy and build a clean energy future. Their mission is to provide solar lighting to every home, school and clinic in Africa by 2030, replacing millions of polluting kerosene lamps and preventing the need for new fossil-fuelled power stations. They don't simply hand out solar lights - they work with local partners to build knowledge, capacity and skills in communities with the aim of creating a long-term sustainable solar lighting market that can thrive without outside support. You can read more about SolarAid here and donate here.

Supporting multiple climate goals

ClientEarth

ClientEarth is an environmental charity with a unique approach. They use existing environmental laws to challenge polluting projects – and win. In the last two years their actions have helped stop the construction of three huge coal plants in Poland and Germany and a giant gas plant in the UK, amongst a range of other victories. At the time of writing, they are pursuing 169 active legal cases around the world, including cases against fossil fuel infrastructure and in defence of biodiversity. In 2017, they were named the ‘UK’s most effective environmental organisation’ by the Environmental Funders Network. You can read more about ClientEarth here and donate here.

 

 

 

SCF Partner Selection Criteria 

 

GCC works to raise awareness and funds from within the art market to support carefully selected organisations that:

  • Keep fossil fuels in the ground and greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. 

  • Protect natural environments, their biodiversity and their human inhabitants.

  • Respect the principles of climate justice. 

  • Are effective at doing the above within our 2030 timeline.

We are particularly interested in projects that support and empower marginalised peoples, especially those on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

 

Any scheme that does not fulfil these criteria will not be considered by GCC as a Strategic Climate donation.

 

 


What about donations to organisations that are not ‘GCC SCF Partners’?

GCC has made contact and developed relationships with the organisations listed here in order to ensure they align with the criteria, and therefore is able to recommend them as recipients for SCF donations. Whilst there are many fantastic organisations out there worthy of financial support, GCC is not able to verify the methods or effectiveness of all of them. In theory, it would be possible to follow the SCF process and donate to an organisation not listed here, as long as proper investigation has been carried out to ensure that the organisation is doing reputable work and that the above criteria have been met. If you are planning to complete the SCF process but donate to a different charity, please let us know who that charity is.

 

 

 

Spending SCFs: ‘Internal Investments’

Distributing Funds to Environmental Initiatives Within the Art Sector

For a truly sustainable arts sector we need cleaner, affordable alternatives for international shipping, local art transport, low-energy lighting and temperature control, packaging, display materials, printing, and international travel. Some options already exist, but others need more support in order to get off the ground. This is where strategic investments in the arts sector via SCFs can help to make a difference.  

 

GCC will be building a list of low-carbon projects and initiatives within the art world that members can support via their SCFs. By committing to using these services, GCC members can help them become standard practice in the culture sector and beyond. Initially, many of these services will probably have higher-than-average costs; SCFs can therefore be used to cover the difference.

 

This could be a particularly helpful option for not-for-profit cultural organisations and museums who have limited financial resources, and may be restricted by charity law from giving donations to external organisations. Instead of making such donations, these GCC members could instead spend their SCFs on internal carbon reduction initiatives (see next section) and on choosing lower carbon options for their purchased goods and services.

 

 

 

Suggestions for Spending SCFs Internally

It is important to note that these recommendations are aimed at organisations that would not otherwise be able to afford these kinds of changes. We would expect most of our members (especially arts businesses, commercial galleries and large public museums) to be making these kinds of investments already, as part of their 2030 decarbonisation plans, and donating their SCFs to the most urgent external projects.

Example measures that are (usually) less expensive, but also  create carbon savings rather than cost savings:

  • Subsidise lower-carbon purchasing options, where you might otherwise have bought the cheaper but more polluting alternative, such as switching to art supplies made from reclaimed or recycled materials.

  • Subsidise lower-carbon transport options, such as taking trains rather than planes for medium-range journeys. 

Example measures that are (usually) more expensive upfront, but can create carbon and cost savings in the longer term:

  • Establishing a Circularity Network with other arts organisations in your region to collectively invest in and share reusable exhibition furniture and packaging materials. 

  • Upgrading / retrofitting buildings to make them more efficient.

  • Switching any owned or leased vehicles for lower-carbon alternatives, e.g. cargo trikes and electric delivery vehicles.

  • Commissioning an energy audit of your premises by a trained professional.

  • Installing insulation and draught-proofing.

  • Switching to 100% LED lighting.

  • Installing on-site renewable energy or heat generation such as solar panels.

  • Replace a gas heating system with an electric heat pump.

Beyond these steps, the sector as a whole should be exploring opportunities for collaboration and collective investment in order to ‘green’ the supply chain, innovate new packaging materials or digital services, and accelerate the transition to low-carbon freight methods.

 

This is a limited list of suggestions that GCC will be expanding and developing in the near future. For further ideas, see GCC’s Decarbonisation Action Plan or contact: info@galleryclimatecoalition.org. 

 
 
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