Recent research from Climate Outreach offers a timely insight for the cultural sector: there is a measurable public mandate for climate action across culture. Far from being seen as a risk or distraction, climate responsibility is increasingly understood as central to cultural relevance, credibility and leadership.

Based on extensive audience research, the findings show broad public support for cultural organisations taking responsibility for their environmental impact and using their influence thoughtfully.

Audiences value honesty over perfection

One of the most important insights from the research is that audiences are not expecting perfection. What they value is sincerity, transparency and consistency over time. Cultural organisations are trusted when they acknowledge complexity, show they are learning, and embed climate responsibility into everyday decision-making, rather than treating it as a one-off initiative or communications exercise.

Crucially, Climate Outreach also found that where audiences struggle to trust climate-related messaging, it is most often because they perceive a lack of authenticity and genuine commitment. Messages ring hollow when they are not backed up by action, even if imperfect. This reinforces a simple but important principle for climate programming: credibility comes from practising what you preach.

Culture’s unique role in climate leadership

The findings also reinforce the distinctive role culture plays in wider climate conversations. Cultural spaces are seen as places where ideas can be explored, emotions processed and futures imagined. This gives the sector both responsibility and opportunity: to model the values needed for a just and sustainable transition.

Audiences respond most positively when climate action is framed through values they already hold: care, creativity, fairness and responsibility to others and to future generations. 

Why institutional action matters

Climate Outreach highlights the importance of visible, coherent leadership. When cultural institutions take action, reducing emissions, rethinking production and touring models, embedding climate considerations into governance, they help normalise climate responsibility across society. Inaction or silence, by contrast, risks undermining public trust.

For GCC, this reinforces the need for a systems-led approach. Climate responsibility cannot rest with one team, individual, or even organisation; it must be embedded across the finance, operations, programming, and leadership of the entire sector.

From mandate to collective action

The mandate for climate action is clear, but so are the challenges. Cultural organisations are operating under real constraints, from financial pressure to limited capacity. The path forward is not about asking institutions to act alone, but about building shared infrastructure, reducing barriers and learning collectively.

The question is no longer whether culture should act on climate, but how to move further and faster, together.