The Science Museum Group is the custodian of the nation’s pre-eminent collections in the fields of science, technology, engineering, medicine, transport and media. Since 2016, climate change has been identified as a priority within our Collections Development Policy; our current policy states: ‘The study of, and response to, environmental change will be a major focus for collecting, including global heating, sea level rise and pollution.’
This collecting agenda is part of the Science Museum Group’s broader strategic focus on climate change and sustainability. We announced our programme of climate action at the launch of the UK Year of Climate Action associated with COP26 at the Science Museum in February 2020, and in April 2021 we set our own net zero emissions target for 2033.
We aspire to lead public engagement in the UK on the science of climate change and the technologies that will help human societies both mitigate and adapt to its impacts. This builds upon a strong record of climate-related programming over the last decade, particularly at the Science Museum, with projects including: galleries and temporary exhibitions (e.g. Our Future Planet, 2021; Atmosphere, 2010; Unlocking Lovelock, 2014), art interventions (e.g. Cockroach Tour, 2010; the Rubbish Collection, 2014), live and online events, schools outreach and educational resources.