UK Museum COP report

NMDC has published a report of the UK Museum COP event held at Tate Modern in October 2023. The aim of COP was to secure consensus across museums on urgent action to decarbonise the sector and mitigate the impacts of the climate and biodiversity crises. Following the event UK museum leaders issued their first ever joint commitment to collective action.

The full report is published here, including the presentations and panel discussions on the day, as well as results from live voting by attendees in response to questions on critical issues and proposals for collective action. An Executive Summary of the report is also available to download here.

NMDC’s new Climate Lead Maggie Appleton, CEO of the RAF Museum, said:

‘The UK Museum COP event was a real breakthrough in collective commitment to urgent action across the museum sector. With warm thanks to Nick Merriman for his brilliant leadership, and for chairing the COP event, I am delighted to take the reins and drive NMDC’s work on this absolutely vital issue.

We will continue working hard to deliver the commitments and proposals made at COP, as well as advocating to government and funders on how they can best support the museum sector in achieving its incredible potential to make a major contribution to national ambitions around the climate and biodiversity crises’.

NMDC has also published a briefing on how museums support UK national ambitions on climate, outlining the opportunities for government to work with and support museums on this agenda. Read the full briefing here.

Museum decarbonisation case studies

Also published today are the findings of a series of case studies looking at the actions and costs required to decarbonise museum buildings.

To support the objectives of UK Museum COP, NMDC worked with Buro Happold and Flint + Partners on a study of potential improvements to the energy performance of six different museum sites across the country, identifying where changes could be made to make buildings more efficient and reduce carbon emissions.

Each case study considers three categories: quick wins, maintenance, and capital projects, and within these demonstrates a range of measures for potential carbon savings.

The case studies demonstrate that while there are huge opportunities for museums to decarbonise and many low-cost ways to make improvements, there are also considerable cost implications for the sector. NMDC will use the case studies to continue to advocate for investment to support museums in decarbonising their estates and operations.

UK Museum COP actions and recommendations

NMDC continues to work on delivery of actions from the day, and the COP subgroups on Heritage buildings, Scope 3 challenges, Funding, Workforce and skills and Collections are continuing to meet to discuss taking forward their recommendations. Actions already complete or underway include:

UK Museum COP commitments

The Ethics statement from museum leaders, presented by COP Chair Nick Merriman and agreed on the day, was published and is available online here. The statement has been widely shared and there has been interest from international museum bodies about the COP event and shared statement.
The Refreshed Bizot Green Protocol endorsed at COP and by NMDC is available here. The Protocol commits to environmental sustainability across all areas of museum activity and the adoption of a 'greener practice first mindset'. NMDC will continue to promote the Bizot Principles and encourages all museums to commit to following them.
The ‘Global Call to Action’ aiming to put cultural heritage, arts and creative industries at the heart of UN climate action was signed on behalf of NMDC. The campaign, coordinated in the UK by Julie’s Bicycle, is gaining traction. More information is available here.

New online resource for museums and heritage

The Scope 3 Challenges COP subgroup recommended that NMDC ‘should work with other sector bodies to develop signposting to existing resources for museums, including clear guidance on the most relevant resources for different types of organisations’.

In response, an online ‘Museums and Heritage Climate Hub’ (working title) is now in the initial planning stage, aiming to address current challenges in finding and navigating the right resources by providing a ‘one-stop shop’ linking to toolkits, case studies and guidance for museums and heritage organisations.

The project is being taken forward by NMDC in partnership with Arts Council England, AIM, Historic Buildings and Places, Historic England, Museum Development North and Welsh Government. More details will be announced soon.

If you’d like further details or to discuss ideas for supporting Museum COP recommendations please get in touch with the NMDC team.