It’s something we hear again and again: many arts organisations in our network want to upgrade their buildings in response to the climate crisis, but are struggling to find the funds to do so. A lot of the changes required – from installing solar panels and heat pumps to replacing inefficient lighting and climate control systems – could save energy and money in the long term. Combining those improvements with measures to increase the building’s resilience to climate shocks like heatwaves, floods and rainstorms could also prevent serious future costs. But covering the upfront expenditure for these kinds of improvements is a real challenge for many, especially those in the not-for-profit and public arts sector. This includes smaller arts organisations with tight budgets, and larger ones with complex sites and heritage buildings that need carefully tailored solutions.

Here in the UK, the government and other public authorities have acknowledged the scale and importance of the climate crisis. But at a time when an urgent transition is needed across the arts and culture sector, the public funds available for that shift seem to be piecemeal and patchy. The Arts Council’s limited infrastructure funding (e.g. MEND and CFF) is understandably targeted at those buildings in most urgent need of upgrades and repairs. While welcome, this misses out the majority of buildings where the changes needed are arguably urgent from the perspective of the climate, but don’t score highly under the specific criteria of these funds.

Until 2024, publicly-owned arts buildings could apply to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme for capital improvements, and some museums and galleries have secured funds this way. However, those using it have reported issues with a lack of flexibility, the fact that the funds only partially covered the costs of decarbonisation improvements, and the need to spend large amounts of money on research and preparation before even being able to make an application. In any case, the fund has now closed and has not been directly replaced.

Some funding may also be available from particular local Councils, devolved governments or regional authorities for specific types of arts buildings, but this is of course highly location-dependent.

The only other major UK funding we’ve found is the Great British Energy Community Fund, which is specifically targeted at renewable energy projects that are part-owned by, and directly benefit, local communities. This could be of relevance to any non-profit arts organisations with strong links to their local community and where some kind of shared ownership model (eg installing rooftop solar via a community share offer) might be feasible.* But again, this funding has tight deadlines and very specific criteria that won’t apply to large numbers of improvement projects.

This feels like a missed opportunity. There are arts buildings across the UK where a relatively small amount of money could have a big impact. The Transforming Energy programme by Julie’s Bicycle has already identified a range of key barriers facing arts organisations that wish to make these changes, and proposed a package of solutions including better access to finance. A recent study by the New Economics Foundation found that a large amount of domestic solar and battery installation could be unlocked simply by providing homeowners with low-interest loans (backed up with expert advice), which could be repaid from the household’s energy savings. The government seems to be taking steps towards this kind of measure in its most recent Budget. The same principle should hold for arts organisations too, especially those currently facing large heating, lighting or cooling bills that could be reduced by investment in efficiency and on-site generation.

Finding funding for decarbonisation, energy saving, adaptation and resilience measures in arts buildings wouldn’t just benefit those organisations. It could deliver serious benefits to the local community too. Museums and galleries with efficient modern temperature control systems will be far better placed to provide free warm spaces in winter and cool spaces in summer, as part of wider efforts to support their local communities with climate adaptation. This can be seen through inspiring projects such as the Capital Investment Programme, and Resilience Work, led by Julie's Bicycle. Arts organisations are also perfectly positioned to showcase these kinds of practical solutions to a wide audience, helping to dispel myths and educate the broader public – including outside of the big cities, where smaller regional museums and galleries are often key trusted hubs for the local community.

So how can we make it happen? Here at GCC, we’ve spent the last few months having conversations with arts sector practitioners and environmental policy experts, gathering ideas on possible ways forward. Can we can collectively find sources of finance to help more arts organisations make this transition? We have a few ideas, but now we need your help!

If you have improvements you want to make at your cultural building that would save energy and cut carbon – especially if that would help you to provide benefits to your local community and actively showcase climate solutions – then please get in touch. We’d love to know what you’re hoping to do and what the barriers are, whether they’re to do with finance, logistics, legal or expertise issues. We’re hoping to gather a list of interested organisations and potential projects, to clearly identify the need within the sector and the amount of positive change that could be unlocked.

Contact us at info@galleryclimatecoalition.org, and look out for more announcements and callouts from GCC in the near future!
 
* If any arts organisations do think they might meet the criteria for this, there is the option to apply for funds for a feasibility study to begin with, without yet needing a detailed project plan. However, the deadline for this is November 12th 2026, so you’d need to move quickly! Please do let us know if you’re thinking of applying for this and we will lend some support if we can.