Today, to coincide with Earth Day, 22 April 2022, Creative Scotland publishes its bold new Climate Emergency and Sustainability Plan.
The Plan sets out an ambitious range of actions that Creative Scotland will take to achieve net zero in its operations by 2030 and to help address the climate emergency that we all face. The Plan was developed in collaboration with a project team led by Creative Carbon Scotland and with people from across Scotland’s culture and creative sector.
Crucially, the Plan also sets out how Creative Scotland will work with the culture and creative sectors to help them achieve net zero by 2045, in line with Scottish Government commitments.
In the Plan, Creative Scotland commits to:
- Recruiting new specialist staff to work exclusively on the delivery of climate and sustainability objectives for Creative Scotland and the culture and creative sectors;
- Setting carbon budgets and expanding sustainable practice for Creative Scotland, in order to achieve net zero by 2030 and adapt to the impacts of climate change;
- Introducing climate and sustainability criteria to all Creative Scotland’s funding programmes;
- Working collaboratively with the culture and creative sectors to set sector-wide carbon budgets, to achieve net zero by 2045 and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The work set out in the Plan builds on the significant progress over the past decade made by the culture and creative sectors in Scotland in terms of carbon reporting, carbon reduction and sustainable practice, supported by Creative Carbon Scotland and Creative Scotland.
Iain Munro, Creative Scotland Chief Executive said: “This Plan is highly ambitious, reflecting the scale of the climate challenge that we face.
Working with Creative Carbon Scotland and others, we have supported sustainable practice across the culture and creative sector for many years, not least in terms of carbon reporting and reduction.
Building on that work, the Plan we are publishing today contains practical actions for Creative Scotland and the sector more broadly. It represents a step up in our commitment to addressing the climate emergency as both agents for change and in terms of delivering change ourselves.
This will ensure that culture and creativity make an even more significant contribution to Scotland’s journey to net zero.”
Ben Twist, Director of Creative Carbon Scotland said: "We salute Creative Scotland for commissioning this bold, comprehensive, evidence-based Climate Emergency and Sustainability Plan.
By adopting it, Creative Scotland will not only achieve Net Zero itself, it will help Scotland's vital and vibrant cultural and creative sector lead the way in the transition to a just, inclusive and climate-ready Scotland.”
Angus Robertson, Culture Secretary said: “Creative Scotland’s transformational plan to support the arts, screen and creative industries will inspire other organisations to also implement the critical changes we need to achieve Net Zero by 2045.
“The arts, culture and heritage sectors have a powerful and important role to play in supporting fair and equitable changes in society as Scotland moves towards a zero-carbon, climate-ready future.”
Background
The Climate Emergency and Sustainability Plan is published on the Creative Scotland website and will be implemented from April 2022: https://www.creativescotland.com/climate-emergency-and-sustainability-plan
The Plan was developed on Creative Scotland’s behalf by a project team led by Creative Carbon Scotland.
Creative Carbon Scotland
Creative Carbon Scotland is a charity focused on harnessing the role of the arts and culture in addressing climate change and supporting the transition to a zero carbon, fair and more equitable, climate-adapted Scotland. It believes that the arts and culture have an essential role in achieving the transformational change to a sustainable future. Creative Carbon Scotland works directly with individuals, organisations and strategic bodies engaged across cultural and sustainability sectors, in Scotland and internationally, to harness the role of culture in achieving this change. Learn more at creativecarbonscotland.com.
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot