Art Fund’s approach to environmental sustainability
Art Fund's 2022-26 strategy includes a commitment to reducing our environmental impact both now and in the future. We are in the early stages of this journey.
We have set up an internal working group, the Green Taskforce, to monitor and drive the ongoing implementation and impact of our action plan.
Here’s an overview of what we’re doing to reduce our environmental impact and embed sustainability into our work.
How we fund
We offer practical and financial support to help museums and galleries explore issues such as environmental sustainability and climate change.
For example, in 2023 we led a UK-wide project, The Wild Escape, bringing together 530 museums to engage thousands of children with the subject of biodiversity loss. And in 2025 we have given funding to 43 museums across the UK to help them run activities and events for their local communities inspired by THE HERDS, a global climate action project.
As well as offering funding, we can support museums by brokering partnerships with organisations outside the museum sector. For The Wild Escape we worked in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the National Trust through Save our Wild Isles, and supported wider UK initiatives such as Great Big Green Week.
We are also building advice on these issues into our funding programmes. We have been working with environmental responsibility consultants to support participants in both THE HERDS and Going Places, our new funding programme for touring exhibitions, and we are creating resources for museum professionals such as our toolkit to help museums reduce the environmental impact of touring exhibitions.
What we’re doing as a funder
Here are the three main ways we’re helping museums and galleries to develop their own sustainable practices and engage their audiences with environmental issues.
Helping museums take part in and run projects
Exploring partnerships with leading organisations
Sharing advice and resources
How we travel
We have created a Green Travel Policy to provide guidance for arts professionals and organisations who are applying to us for funding. This policy sets out recommendations to help people make greener choices when they travel.
Reducing the carbon impact of our membership
One of the ways we can reduce our carbon impact is by changing what our membership materials are made from.
Copies of our membership magazine, Art Quarterly, used to be sent out in plastic carriers – we've changed these to recyclable paper. We now print the National Art Pass, our membership card, on recyclable and compostable materials instead of plastic.
We have also been looking at reducing the carbon impact of our website and developing a digital National Art Pass.
Making improvements to our office
Reducing the carbon emissions of our office has been a big focus. We have a target to achieve a net zero carbon building by 2026.
To help us get there, we’ve:
upgraded our lighting systems to LED with movement sensors – these bulbs are more energy efficient and give people the option to dim lighting
brought in a desk booking system, which means we can monitor office attendance and adjust temperature schedules depending on how many people are in
closed a part of the office on Fridays to cut energy wastage
stopped heating stairwells and reduced our AC usage, keeping windows open in warmer months
installed special seals on our windows and doors to retain heat, reduce drafts and cut heating costs
been monitoring our electricity usage with software called Pilio, and we'll continue to assess where savings can be made
encouraged staff to think about how they can take responsibility for reducing their own environmental impact and offered staff Carbon Literacy Training
Our investments
We have developed a carbon strategy for our investment portfolio with associated targets and measurements. We monitor and assess exposure to fossil fuels and carbon intensity against relevant benchmarks and peers at least annually. The impact of our strategy has been a significant reduction in carbon exposure while maintaining portfolio returns.
Events we run
For events we organise, such as the award ceremony for Art Fund Museum of the Year and our annual Trustees’ Dinner, we make sure that our food menus are made up of 75% vegetarian and plant-based options, with a focus on serving seasonal and locally sourced produce.
We also look at the promotional materials we produce for these events, such as invitations, programmes and take-away materials, to make sure we are using more sustainable options and do all that we can to minimise waste.
People and organisations we work with
A key part of how we fundraise is to adhere to and regularly review an ethical fundraising policy.
With the oversight of our Ethics Committee, this ensures that Art Fund’s approach to gift acceptance and partnership is consistent with our broader commitment to environmental sustainability as a charity, funder and advocate across the museum sector.
We carry out extensive due diligence on both new and existing funders and partners to ensure that we do not accept gifts from individuals or organisations whose sources of income, business practices or positions on sustainability conflict with our strategic goals to influence positive change across the sector. This includes our aim to champion and support museums in taking meaningful action towards a more sustainable future.
By ensuring our funding partners share our environmental values, we aim to drive positive change within museums across the UK and help build a more sustainable cultural landscape.
When engaging new suppliers, our procurement policy requires that we consider how environmentally friendly and sustainable their products and services are. We are committed to growing the diversity of our suppliers and promoting environmentally responsible practices.
What's next
We recognise that there is much work to do and we intend to hold ourselves accountable.
We’ll update this statement over time as we work together with our staff and partners to bring about positive change.