Environmental sustainability

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has pledged £1.2m to enable workspaces in London’s nine Creative Enterprise Zones (CEZ) to become greener and more sustainable.

Local authorities with accredited zones are being invited to apply for grants of up to £200,000 to invest in practical and achievable measures that will improve energy efficiency.

The move comes in attempt to support small creative businesses and organisations that face the pressure of rising energy bills.

Khan said rising energy costs are hitting the arts, cultural and creative industries hard.

“It is vital that [the sector] is supported to become more energy efficient, especially as these businesses are not protected by the energy price cap,” he added.

“This latest investment reaffirms my commitment to placing the environment at the centre of our economic recovery and will help workplaces deal with burden of the cost of living crisis and spiralling energy bills as we build back a fairer, greener city for all.”

To date, the CEZ programme has invested £14m to support London’s artists and creative businesses and has established nearly 1,000 creative training, work placements and jobs across the nine zones.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has launched a public consultation on what social and environmental causes should benefit from more than £700m of dormant assets funding in England.

Currently, dormant assets funding in England is required to be spent on three causes - youth, financial inclusion or social investment, but the government is reviewing whether these remain the right causes for where funding from dormant assets can be allocated.

One option under consideration for views is a community wealth fund proposal that would see pots of money distributed over long periods of time in local communities in England, with decisions made by residents to make a difference where it is most needed.

DCMS is welcoming response from members of the public, community groups, and industry stakeholders.

The consultation will close on Sunday 9 October.

An open letter signed by more than 400 teachers and educators is calling on the Science Museum to drop oil giant Adani as sponsor for its new Energy Revolution Gallery.

Co-ordinated by the Fossil Free Science Museum collective, the letter is the latest expression of concern over the museum’s oil sponsors, BP, Shell and Equinor and Adani, the latter of which was announced last year and led to several high profile boycotts and resignations.

Due to open next year, the Energy Revolution Gallery's target audience is Key Stage 3 and 4 students studying geography and science and young people aged 11-18, according to internal museum documents obtained following a Freedom of Information request.

The signatories pledge not to bring students to the new gallery, or any other gallery, sponsored by a fossil fuel company.

Stating that eco-anxiety amongst young people is on the rise, the letter asks how students are “supposed to feel when they see the Science Museum aligning itself, through multiple projects, with some of the world’s biggest polluters”.

“These sponsorship deals are not altruistic acts, but part of a wider strategy by fossil fuel-producing companies to convince the public that they are the ones solving the climate crisis, rather than the ones creating it,” the letter says.

More than £750,000 of funding will be provided to help local libraries and museums develop their facilities and services, the Welsh Government has announced.

The funding, which will be delivered as part of the Transformation Capital Grant Scheme, will support Wales’ local libraries and museums to "develop and revitalise" their facilities.

There will be a particular focus on widening access, partnership working, decarbonisation, and developing sustainable services.

The fund will be used to refurbish and modernise six libraries: Penygroes Library, Dyffryn Ogwen Library in Gwynedd, Rhymney Library in Caerphilly, Pencoed Library in Bridgend, Port Talbot Library and Barry Library.

Funding will also be provided towards and Newport Museum and Art Gallery’s decarbonisation project, and to enable Monmouthshire County Council to ensure the preservation of, and future access to, their collections through work at the Shire Hall.

Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden said: “The Welsh Government remains committed to supporting these important services that fulfil a valuable role at the heart of community life. 

"This fund will widen access for our communities, promote cultural engagement, provide learning opportunities and support community cohesion, sustainability and prosperity.

“I encourage everyone to see what their local museum, archive or library has to offer.”