Art can change the world, but can it save us from climate extinction? | culture

WWhen we think about who gave women a voice during their fight for the right to vote, or their battle for the legalization of abortion, those in art have often been at the forefront. Likewise the Black Panthers in the US civil rights movement and people with AIDS shunned by the government. Artists have not only captured political changes – their work has changed vital conversations.

Sometimes the laws have also changed. Paula Rego’s harrowing descriptions of women going through unsafe illegal abortions helped sway public opinion in Portugal’s 2007 referendum to legalize the practice. Suzie Miller’s show Prima Facie, about a female advocate and survivor of sexual abuse, exposed the flaws in the law when it comes to rape victims. By asking the accused if consent had been given, it influenced a senior British judge to rewrite the direction read to juries in rape cases. Art and artists can have a huge impact.

Right now, the climate emergency is one of the most urgent crises facing the world. In the UK, 2022 and 2023 were the hottest and second hottest years on record. A wet spring has caused a potato shortage, causing food prices to rise. And, as the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2022 outlines, there are increasing risks to livestock, soil health, freshwater habitats, food chains, and human health and wellbeing. How can artists push the conversation and convince people to take action on these problems?

In 1984, Agnes Denes drew attention to capitalist greed and the gap between urban and rural environments by planting and harvesting a two-acre wheat field in Battery Park, Manhattan. Four months in the making, it highlighted the mismanagement of the land and, as the artist put it, “our wrong priorities and the deterioration of human values.” Judy Chicago’s drawing series The End: A Meditation on Death and Extinction, part of her current show at the Serpentine in London, depicts flora and fauna under threat of extinction, giving voice to nature that is slowly being destroyed by this crisis.

While it is important for artists of all kinds to document what is happening, urgent action is also required. I recently went to the launch of Murmur, a climate initiative and grant scheme pushing for the decarbonisation of the arts and music industries. While some artists have been doing this work for a long time, it is important that they leverage their influence. As founder Victoria Siddall, former director of the Frieze art fair, points out: “Art and artists have a special power to inspire people.”

It is sad that we need these organizations. But their existence is the result of a dangerous lack of activity by our current government. The Prime Minister played down the climate crisis in the Conservative manifesto and has reversed his strategy, prioritizing cost over planet. He doesn’t even seem to fully recognize that high oil and gas prices are fueling the cost of living crisis. All this despite a public letter signed by 408 scientists urging party leaders to make climate a top priority. “It is abundantly clear,” they write, “that a failure to tackle climate change with sufficient urgency and scale is making the UK and the rest of the world more dangerous and insecure.”

On Saturday, London Climate Action Week kicked off, filling the city with events and discussions about how we can do better, and next week’s general election is the most crucial vote of our generation. In these times, we must use all the resources we can to shift the conversation and take action. Like Suzie Miller changing the direction of judges or Paula Rego influencing Portuguese law, art can be a powerful tool. But individuals, leaders and organizations must also use their influence.

Priority should be given to the climate. If not, what will future artists need to document? Will there be any? You cannot document disappearance if you have ceased to exist.