Can art save the planet?

Politics, science and the law aren’t the only fields with the ability to influence climate change policy — when it comes to making direct interventions, art shouldn’t be underestimated, industry insiders say. The Role of ArtThe arts have an “essential” role to play in shaping environmental governance, according to the organization overseeing the arts program at the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC), which starts on June9, in Nice, France. Markus Reymann, co-director of contemporary art and advocacy foundation TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, believes that art and culture can “rekindle relationships” with the environment and those who inhabit it. At UNOC, TBA21 will oversee about20 activities, including exhibitions, workshops and panel discussions, to raise awareness of and engagement with the ocean around the topics of regenerative practices and sustainability. The initiatives “assert the vital role of culture and arts in high-level political decision-making,” according to an emailed statement. The ImpactArtist Maja Petric's "Specimens of Time: Spectrum" comprises luminous "sculptures" that show natural environments. Petric said she felt an "urgency" to preserve the memory of such landscapes. Her light installations aim to evoke what people feel when they experience pristine nature, she told CNBC by video call. When asked whether her work can influence climate policy, she said in an email: “As an artist, I don’t speak in metrics or policy. But there is evidence: it’s in every person who lingers with the piece, sometimes for minutes, sometimes for hours.”## Historical SignificanceIt’s not only contemporary art that explores human influence on the natural world. “Historically, perhaps the greatest contribution artists have made in the context of environmental risk is to remind wider society of what might be lost. From Turner landscapes and Constable skyscapes to Richard Long’s walks in the wilds, artists remind us of the preeminence of the natural world,” Godfrey Worsdale, director of the Henry Moore Foundation, said in an email to CNBC.Works like John Constable's 'Cloud Study' remind people of the importance of the natural world, according to Godfrey Worsdale, director of the Henry Moore Foundation. "Cloud Study," is pictured here at a sale at the London auction house Sotheby's on June22,2022. The FutureArt can be a way of making the climate crisis “easier to comprehend and act upon,” according to Lula Rappoport, community coordinator at Gallery Climate Coalition. “The greatest obstacle to meaningful policy is how abstract and immense climate change can feel,” Rappoport told CNBC by email. “Art can bridge this gap by helping us understand challenging concepts and imagining alternative futures,” she said.For artist Ahmet Ogut, art has a “power and agency” that he said doesn’t need to wait to be recognized by politicians or scientists. “Art doesn’t need permission, it works in parallel systems, activating new imaginaries, forming temporary communities, and offering tools of resistance,” he said in an email to CNBC. Ogut pointed to artist Lauren Bon’s “Bending the River,” a large-scale project that has diverted water from the Los Angeles River to irrigate public land as an artwork that has intervened “directly in ecological infrastructure,” and created “a form of civic reparation.” ConclusionArt has a vital role to play in shaping environmental governance and influencing climate change policy. By raising awareness, evoking emotions, and imagining alternative futures, art can help bridge the gap between the abstract concept of climate change and the actions needed to address it. As industry insiders emphasize, art doesn’t need permission to make a difference – it can work in parallel systems, activating new imaginaries and offering tools of resistance.