Last year, Arta prioritized a number of initiatives set to address the formidable challenges of climate change. Our goals were to both become a thought leader and first mover in the industry —encouraging dialogue, participating in discussions around emissions reductions for shipping, and helping to educate broader audiences—as well as to take immediate action to measure, reduce, and offset our own emissions. To highlight a few projects we are most proud of from our efforts to date: we published a white paper on the impact of fine art shipping on the environment, which informed and guided organizations on taking the first steps to measure their carbon footprint; we joined and became active members of the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC); we engaged The Carbon Accounting Company to measure the 2020 carbon footprint of all Arta shipments, and we “offset” (more on that terminology here) those emissions on behalf of our clients by contributing Arta’s Strategic Climate Funds to permanent tropical forest conservation.
We have continued to make sustainability a priority for our business. As we learned, not surprisingly, in the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the outlook for climate change is dire. We have a small window in which the world can take swift action to greatly reduce the impact of future global warming. Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 will not be easy and will require contributions from every individual and business across the globe. Here, we outline what Arta is working on to expand on our efforts to date and take our commitment even further.
Encouraging and enabling our clients to calculate their emissions
Through our support of the GCC, we have encouraged our clients to use their emissions calculator to calculate their carbon footprint. We are currently working with clients* to provide a monthly export of their shipment data to seamlessly calculate their shipping emissions.
(*We are currently piloting this service with a small number of clients that have transitioned to a new, more powerful Arta Dashboard. The new Dashboard will be available more broadly to all clients early next year. To learn more about our new Dashboard and to register your interest, add your information here.)
In 2022, our goal is to productize carbon emissions calculations for all shipments. Clients will be able to view, export, and report on carbon emissions instantly for every shipment requested or booked through Arta.
Conducting a full institutional carbon audit
To secure a path to net-zero emissions, we are building upon our efforts last year to calculate our entire 2021 carbon footprint. In addition to emissions from shipping, we will take into account all aspects of our operational emissions, including home/company office space for our hybrid workforce, digital footprint, corporate travel, and more. This data will allow us to understand how our shipping emissions increase as our company grows, understand how transport type effects emissions, set a baseline for future reduction goals, and identify opportunities to reduce emissions for ourselves and the industry.
Creating a Strategic Climate Fund to remove when we cannot reduce
The path to net-zero is a combination of reducing emissions and removing carbon from the atmosphere. Understanding that reducing our emissions will not happen overnight, we too acknowledge that there will be emissions we cannot avoid. We will be working with Art to Acres for a second year to “offset” these emissions by investing in permanent old-growth land conservation projects that protect large areas of forest. Trees are incredible engines for efficient carbon sequestration, and these projects not only protect these vast stores of carbon, but also support biodiversity, watersheds, and the local community.
Continual education and support of industry initiatives
We will continue to use avenues available to us as well as find new opportunities to further education, engagement, and adoption of emissions reduction goals throughout the industry. As an operator in the world of transportation, and as humans who inhabit this beautiful planet, we own the responsibility to be proactive in the race to net-zero.
To learn more, share ideas, or discuss Arta's climate commitment, feel free to reach out to hello@arta.io.
