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Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) announces that Frances Morris CBE has been appointed as Chair of the organisation’s Board. A museum curator, art historian and writer, Frances Morris played a key role in establishing Tate, and in particular Tate Modern, as one of the most important galleries in the world. After studying at Cambridge and the Courtauld Institute, she joined Tate as a young curator in 1987, and when Tate Modern opened, took on the responsibility of introducing an entirely new way of seeing the national collection of modern and contemporary art, first as Head of Displays (2000-2006), and then Director of Collections, International Art, until she took over as Director of Tate Modern from 2016 to 2023.

Frances’s legacy at Tate includes the geographical expansion of Tate’s collection beyond the western canon, gender equality in Tate Modern’s artistic programmes, extending the repertoire of contemporary art by making space for performance and live art in the gallery’s collections, and helping to shape internal and international green museum principles. In 2019, Frances spearheaded Tate’s public commitment to addressing climate extinction via the declaration of a Climate Emergency. This initiative offered a platform for discussion in partnership with artists, campaigners, artistic communities and cultural organisations, a commitment to reducing the organisation’s carbon footprint by 50% by 2023, alongside other measures including the adoption of a train-first travel policy, the switch to a green electricity tariff, the commitment to regular carbon auditing and the sustainable sourcing of produce for Tate’s restaurants.

As a leading voice in the discussion around culture and sustainability, Frances Morris will contribute her broad experience, expertise and international network towards GCC’s mission of mainstreaming Environmental Responsibility in the art world and reducing the sector’s CO₂ emissions by 50% by 2030, from a 2019 baseline.

Celebrating its 5th anniversary this year, Gallery Climate Coalition is an international coalition of over 1800 arts organisations and professionals working to urgently decarbonise the visual arts. GCC develops and shares best practice, provides leadership on sector specific environmental issues, and works to leverage the collective power of its membership to achieve systemic changes.

GCC’s recent initiatives include the International Art Fair Alliance, Strategic Climate Fund policy, the Artist Toolkit, and a newly updated Carbon Calculator tool. GCC’s 2024 Art Fair Co-Commitment Statement and Art Fair Toolkit for Environmental Responsibility represented an unprecedented inter-fair alliance and roadmap for change: united by the understanding that the climate crisis will disrupt the visual arts sector as we know it, 13 organisations representing more than 40 art fairs committed to a consensus on new standards of operating. Policies developed by GCC such as Strategic Climate Funds challenge the mainstream approach to financing environmental initiatives, advising galleries to move their members away from the conventional carbon offsetting market by offering a fairer and more effective alternative. Designed to support urgent decarbonisation in the visual arts, the Carbon Calculator is a crucial part of GCC’s provision of resources to galleries, now with more than 18,000 users it has become the foundation of arts organisations’ environmental impact monitoring and decarbonisation strategy. The Artist Toolkit brings together practical ideas, actions and resources to support artists in addressing the climate crisis. From effective actions to a comprehensive resource index, as well as a blueprint for creating an environmental responsibility rider, the Toolkit equips artists with the means to make effective change.

2025 marks GCC’s 5th anniversary and a pivotal moment, equidistant from its 2020 launch and its 2030 sector-wide climate targets. As the midway point of this critical decade for climate action, GCC will use 2025 to assess progress and accelerate impact.

Inspired by the Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement, GCC is evaluating five years of Carbon Calculator data to measure progress on emissions reductions and sustainability efforts in the sector. This research—incorporating carbon data, member surveys, and qualitative insights—will be published later this year alongside a revised action strategy to drive measurable progress in the second half of the decade.

To mark the 5-year milestone in October, GCC will host a series of in-person and online community events, engaging artists, collectors, galleries, and art fairs. Meanwhile, key initiatives—including the Climate Conscious Travel Campaign, Artist Toolkit activation, the Strategic Climate Fund policy, newly updated Carbon Calculator tool and the next phase of the Art Fair Alliance for Environmental Responsibility—will drive engagement and tangible action across the industry.