Hannah Wright presented the work of the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) and its mission, with a
focus on its upcoming sustainable shipping campaign.


THE WORK OF THE GALLERY CLIMATE COALITION
Founded in 2020 by a group of London‐based commercial galleries, the GCC is a charity that now has
more than 700 members from 20 countries, including 260+ commercial galleries, 50+ non‐profit
organisations and institutions, 100+ artists and collectives, 160+ art sector businesses and 130+
individuals.
The GCC has hubs in four different countries: London, Berlin, Los Angeles and Italy, and is currently
exploring new potential hubs in Sao Paulo, Japan, Brussels, Barcelona, New York and Mexico City.
The targets of the GCC are based on the UN’s goal for keeping global heating below 1.5 degrees
Celsius:
‐ A minimum of 50% CO2e emissions reduction across the sector by 2030
‐ Zero waste operations by 2030 where facilities allow.
To achieve those targets, the GCC works on:
‐ Providing sector‐specific decarbonisation and environmental sustainability guidance
‐ Lobbying for greater systemic change
‐ Raise funds from within the art market to support effective initiatives.
The GCC developed a comprehensive website, which includes resources on shipping, travel,
packaging, energy, recycling, etc. and an easy‐to‐use online carbon calculator.
The idea behind the carbon calculator is to understand the impact of the sector’s practices on the
environment to be able to make effective changes. The use of the calculator is free and anonymous,
but organisations are encouraged to publish their reports.
Any organisation, public or commercial, can join the GCC for free, but a certain level of commitment
and engagement is expected from the members.
The work of the GCC is conducted by a constantly expanding team. Its work relies on consultations
with environmental experts and different actors in the art world. The members are expected to
conduct research on a wide range of subjects with professionals from different industries.


THE SUSTAINABLE SHIPPING CAMPAIGN
The GCC just launched a Sustainable Shipping Campaign, which aims to accelerate the sector’s
transition to environmentally responsible freight operations.
With air freight being one of the art sector’s activities that produces the most greenhouse gas
emissions and artwork packing generating large volumes of single‐use plastic waste, the idea of the
campaign is to collaborate with art organisations and industry suppliers to set standards and find
new ways of working to reduce the impact of shipping on the environment.
The main targets of the campaign are:
‐ Majority of all international art freight to be transported via non‐air methods, with an
overall reduction of volume by 2028.
‐ Majority of packing materials in circulation to be reusable or curb side recyclable by 2026, as
well as an immediate phase‐out of single‐use plastic products with zero‐waste by 2030.
‐ Local deliveries to be low or zero emissions by 2025
‐ All freight companies to provide standardised emissions data by 2024:
o As estimates on quotes so clients can make informed decisions on environmental
impact, as well as on cost and time
o On all invoices for clients to be able to report on their emissions.
To achieve its objective, the campaign will:
‐ Raise awareness about the sector’s impact on the environment, and particularly its
dependency on air freight and single‐use plastic packaging
‐ Provide guidance on best practices and target setting
‐ Encourage the sector’s actors to request low impact shipping services, while encouraging the
promotion of low impact services by shippers and suppliers
The Sustainable Shipping Campaign proposes four sector‐wide campaign targets, together with
specific actions for Galleries, Institutions, Art Fairs, Artists, Auction Houses, Collectors, Art Insurers
and Shippers.
The campaign will include a Shipper Sustainable Services Survey, which will gather information from
shipping companies across the world and centralise that information, so it is accessible and visible by
all. The survey will be voluntary for the agents to submit, and transparency will be expected with
evidence required to document the answers.
The GCC has worked with Lloyds Market Association Joint Specie Committee to put together
guidelines on best practice for insuring sea shipments to progress towards the target to reduce
airfreight by 2028.
The next projects for the GCC include the creation of guidelines specific to the production of
exhibitions.
https://galleryclimatecoalition.org