Addressing Climate Change: what do I do now? 

So, you’ve read the news about the climate emergency. You know that the government is committed to Net Zero and that this will require you to take action. You might even be aware that 72% of audience members think cultural organisations should be acting in response to the climate crisis.   

But as a leader, how does that translate into action? What steps can you take to make a difference? This article will seek to answer those questions. 

Before we talk about actions, let’s have a quick recap about a key concept: how greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are categorised.  

In the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the world’s most widely used way of accounting for greenhouse gas emissions, there are three categories (or ‘scopes’). They are called Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3, and are widely used to help understand and reduce climate impact. 

A toolkit for change, scope by scope: 

Data is key:  

• Before you can change anything, you need to work out the change you want to make. You therefore need to work out your starting point and track your changes (“we’ve reduced power consumption by 30% compared to 2019”). If you’re at the very start of your climate change strategy, don’t try and measure everything at once; pick a few elements and go from there. 

Empower your staff: 

• It can be helpful to appoint a staff member, or a small team, to be your organisation’s climate champions. Make them feel empowered and excited to suggest changes and help you find solutions.

Harness off-the-shelf support: 

• There are various options to help you measure and track your progress. Some examples include the SME ClimateHub and Ecologi, which both offer free tools and support. There are plenty of other options available too. 

Scope 1 

• What is causing you to use energy? Make a list: it could include staff computers; lighting; appliances; powered display units; refrigeration; poor insulation; air conditioning; vehicles; humidifiers and humidity sensors, and much more. 

• What could your mitigation be? For example: turn off computers at night; install more efficient lighting or lighting sensors; invest in more efficient appliances; completely turn off display units outside of public opening times, and so on. 

• You might not be able to change everything: some elements, such as better insulation, may need to be considered as part of long-term capital works. Other elements such as humidity control may be needed to preserve and maintain heritage assets such as an archive and so can’t be turned off. 

Scope 2 

• What is causing your indirect emissions? Make a list: where does your energy come from for powering your building(s)? You might have multiple energy sources, for instance if you have a café or restaurant that uses gas for cooking, as well as energy used to heat or cool staff offices or storage spaces. 

• What could your mitigation be? Can you purchase energy from renewable sources? Can you install your own solar panels? Can you adjust temperature settings? Even reducing heating by one degree can result in significant savings. 

Scope 3 

• This is often the big one. If you’re a heritage attraction or site, or arts venue such as a concert hall or theatre, then often making Scope 3 impact will require interventions that affect a significant number of people.  

• What is causing your Scope 3 GHG emissions? Make a list: Remember, these are emissions caused by your supply/value chain and could include anything from the emissions caused by the sort of disposable coffee cups your café uses (upstream GHG impact), through to how your audience or visitors travel to your site. 

• What could your mitigation be? Some interventions can have significant impact at scale.  

• Could you offer a discount for visitors to your site who have travelled by carbon-friendly method, or who have shared lifts? The National Trust have trialled this approach at some of their sites. English Heritage have likewise offered a 20% entry discount for visitors arriving by train, bus or bike. The advantage of offering ticket discount is that you can then easily calculate the change in visitor habits.  

• Some venues – such as Saffron Hall, a concert hall in Essex – offer a free shuttle bus between their nearest train station and the venue, before and after events. This has both audience engagement and environmental benefits. Can you replicate a similar idea? 

• For upstream mitigation, have a think about what your key impacts are likely to be. Do you use a lot of paper – eg for concert/theatre programmes – and if so, can you use a local printer and a more sustainable paper? If you have a café, where are your products supplied from? Yes, your New Zealand wine might be popular, but these days you might find that a British winemaker could offer a product that is as good, or better, massively reduce that product’s carbon footprint, and support the local economy too. 

• Because you are thinking about interventions at scale, it is vital to know what your current baseline is. Take the wine example above: how many glasses or bottles of wine do you use per year? Once you know that, you can work out if using a more local supplier would have a significant impact, or if it is better to focus elsewhere in the short term. 

Ultimately, doing nothing is not an option. Funders are demanding change, and audiences and visitors care about change. So, think about how you can be part of the solution and empower your staff to help you make a difference. What are your quick wins and what would you like your organisation to look like in five years’ time?