A letter to leaders: the creative community’s call for action at COP21
In 2015, ahead of the historic UN climate talks in Paris, Julie’s Bicycle brought together artists and cultural voices from across the arts and culture sector to send a unified message to world leaders: act now, and act boldly.
This was a landmark moment for creative climate action. The letter called for an ambitious global agreement, while pledging our own commitment to lead, influence and inspire change through sustainability in the arts.
Collective Commitment
What we pledged:
In the letter, the creative community made a powerful collective commitment to:
- Use our creativity to help find and scale solutions
- Take action to make our own industries more sustainable
- Speak out to our audiences to build momentum for change
- Work together to influence and support policymakers
- Take a leadership role with a cultural mandate for action
Ask to World Leaders
We called on world leaders to take decisive, binding action. The letter asked for:
- Significant investment in low carbon infrastructures
- An ambitious commitment to limit global warming to below 2.0°C
- A legally robust and accountable global climate framework
The response
Signed by a global chorus of creatives:
The letter was signed by a powerful coalition of artists, cultural leaders and organisations from across the arts and culture sector, affirming the sector’s unique role in delivering creative climate action.
Prominent signatories included:
Björk, David Bowie, Coldplay, Damon Albarn, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Vivienne Westwood and Philip Pullman, among hundreds of others.
Together, they showed what solidarity in the arts looks like when the stakes are highest.