CLIMATE ACTION in the arts and culture sector

Through its establishment as the national peak body for arts and climate, Creative Climate has a clear mandate: to support the arts and culture sector to transition from a carbon economy and adapt to the impacts of climate change. 

Between February and May this year, we convened four national roundtable sessions, gathering more than 180 participants from across Australia’s arts and culture sector. We asked big questions at a demanding time — following the upheaval of recent years and in the midst of growing climate anxiety, consultation fatigue and the very real pressures that face organisations working hard to survive, let alone to lead on climate.

 What we heard was both encouraging and sobering. The sector is motivated. Values and mission drive the vast majority of climate action. Artists and arts workers understand the stakes, feel them personally, and are ready to act. But they are doing so without the tools, the frameworks, the resources or the structural support they need.

The attached report is a summary of what we heard and is the beginning of a more sustained conversation. The findings will directly shape Creative Climate’s capacity building program, our advocacy and our work with the sector over the next three years.