The role of our museums in researching and conserving the collections in their care is crucial. Museums are trying to find new materials and develop new techniques to conserve and preserve collections. This includes investigation into more effective, bespoke, and ‘green’ conservation materials. 

In 2021 an international workshop organised by, the Centre for Cultural Heritage Technologies of the Italian Institute of Technology (CCHT-IIT), Rijksmuseum, the University of Amsterdam, and École Normale Supérieure de Paris-Saclay, produced a paper titled “Materials for the Ecological Conservation of European Cultural Heritage” (Green Conservation Materials for European Heritage) The event was hosted and funded by the Lorentz Centre, a centre of Leiden University, and the NWO (Dutch Research Council).

Representatives from 14 institutions, including universities (Université Paris-Saclay, Università Alma Mater Studiorum Bologna, University of Amsterdam, Universiteit Leiden, Haute Ecole Neuchatel, Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, Humanitas University), research institutes (Italian Institute of Technology- IIT, Italian National Research Council CNR, Institute of Cultural Heritage Sciences), organizations (KiCulture), entities (Rijksmuseum, English Heritage, The Courtauld Museum, The Mary Rose Trust), and industry professionals, shared their experiences and perspectives on current conservation practices.

They laid the foundation for a manifesto for museum conservation practices which has been published. It includes 10 points representing a roadmap for defining key measures necessary to achieve more ecological conservation of European heritage.

The Green Heritage Conservation Manifesto is a commitment from the conservation science community to improve our entire practice in order to make heritage conservation greener. It aims to engender sectorial agreement by establishing steps that align with the European Green Deal in the care, display, storage, and conservation of heritage. It aims to achieve a quantifiable reduction of energy consumption in alignment with the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal.

British museums released a joint statement at COP28 emphasizing both the ambition to reduce the carbon footprint of museums and, more importantly, the ethical obligation to address this issue more broadly. Currently, museums significantly contribute to pollution due to non-eco-friendly practices, requiring a complete overhaul of management, logistics, and materials.

Many museums in Britain have also ended the sponsoring of exhibitions and events by fossil fuel companies.

At COP28 a High-Level Ministerial Dialogue took place on Culture -based Climate Action for the launch of the Group of Friends of Culture-Based Climate Action at the UNFCCC ( United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).

Collective action was agreed to strengthen respective and shared efforts by:

1. Launching and sustaining the Group of Friends of Culture-Based Climate Action at the UNFCCC (GFCBCA), an informal coalition of UNFCCC parties focused on strengthening political momentum for an effective, coherent, and coordinated action to support and advocate for culture and heritage-based climate action as well as for the protection of culture and heritage from climate impacts.
2. Promoting the recognition that we are not just facing a financial, technical, and scientific challenge but a cultural one as well and that the urgent climate change mitigation and adaptation needed to achieve the Paris Agreement goals will require unprecedented inclusivity and collaboration across all sectors, including culture.
3. Working in advance of COP29 and COP30 to explore ways to facilitate greater and consistent culture content in future COPs and in the work of the UNFCCC, including the possibility of a Joint Work on Culture and Climate Action.
4. Pursuing, before the convening of COP30, broad, transparent, and inclusive engagement, as appropriate within our national contexts, to integrate cultural heritage, arts, and creative industries into National Adaptation Plans, Nationally Determined Contributions, Long-term Strategies, and other related strategies, including also Adaptation Communications as called for in the Rome Declaration adopted at the 2021 meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the G20, in line with their national priorities and competencies.

Fiona Grahame