Serpentine Galleries pledge to reduce their carbon footprints

The Serpentine, alongside 30 other British Institutes, is pledging to lower their carbon footprints by 2023 as part of Spotlight, the new Arts Council England programme.

40 of the biggest polluting institutes, including the Serpentine Galleries, the National Theatre and the Royal Opera House, were asked by The Arts Council to take part in their new programme Spotlight. Spotlight is run by the renewable charity Julie’s Bicycle.

On top of joining Spotlight, The Royal Opera House also aims to become carbon neutral by 2050 and introduce a carbon literacy programme for staff.

Currently out of The Arts Council’s 828 institutions, only a small number account for half of all emissions across their portfolio. Spotlight aims to cut these collective emissions by 10 to 20 per cent, it calls organisations to become “resilient and prepared for necessary changes in the energy system”.

The National Portfolio Organisations are selected by the Arts Council every four years, they receive £71.3 million in lottery money for funding. According to the Arts Council, there will be no financial penalty for institutions that do not meet the environmental targets set out by Spotlight.