Environmental Sustainability Statement

Our planet is facing a climate emergency, and we need to act now. 

theCoLAB commissions women artists who are seriously under-represented in the field of outdoor sculpture to realise their most life affirming work in our vast open air public space: the Artist’s Garden on the roof of Temple Tube in addition to other unusual spaces and free-to-access public spaces, where all are welcome. We are committed to reducing the environmental impact of our commissioning and exhibition process; without a liveable planet, there can be no art and culture.  

We have taken the following steps to do this: 

We have joined the Gallery Climate Coalition, and pledge to at least halve our carbon emissions by 2030, from a 2022 baseline (the Artist’s Garden was founded in 2021). We will regularly calculate the carbon footprint of our operations, to track progress towards this target.   

We work in close partnership with Westminster City Council who have committed to their own Climate Emergency Action Plan here. Westminster Council’s Carbon Offset Fund will provide a grant for us to install solar panels and a rainwater collection system at the Artist’s Garden, by the end of 2024. Currently the site has no power or water supply. 

 We know that our main direct environmental impacts include flights for research trips to visit international artists and exhibitions, and the road and air shipment of materials and artworks for our exhibition programme. We have committed to tackling these impacts by challenging the ‘high growth short term approach to funding and development' in the arts. Each site-wide commission at the Artist’s Garden is on display for a minimum of 12 months, sometimes longer.    

As part of this slower more considered schedule we actively work with artists that consider the environmental impact of their chosen materials at the outset of the commissioning process, including the potential for materials be reused or recycled when the exhibition is finished. We aim to commission artists to make new work that can be fabricated in the UK to avoid the use for any air freight. Where necessary we negotiate with shippers about alternatives to air freight for the supply of any materials from international locations and we request that all packaging is reusable or curbside recyclable.  

All of our printed marketing materials are created on recycled stock. We do not send printed invitations to openings and encourage our visitors to sign up to email newsletters to get information. 

 Our organisation has a Green Ambassador who is responsible for sharing our environmental policy with our suppliers and collaborators; ensuring our air travel is kept to a minimum, collaborating with other GCC members and keeping records for our annual carbon reporting. theCoLAB shares office space in a co-working environment (Exchange at Somerset House) to reduce our energy grid usage. 

We aim to take action in line with the principles of climate justice, recognising the connections between the climate crisis and other global injustices. We want our environmental actions to support - rather than undermine or ignore - the needs of people on the frontlines of marginalisation and injustice. We have set these targets and are taking actions in the knowledge that we aren’t yet doing everything right. We still have a great deal to do and much to learn. We welcome feedback from our artists, audiences and partners on this environmental statement, our targets, and on our plans for action.