This weekend Wembley Stadium in London and the Insa Art Center in Seoul were joint hosts to an international gallery on carbon footprint reduction hosted by the Carbon Trust and Korea Productivity Center (KPC). The exhibition saw major brands work with professional artists to create original pieces that could communicate their efforts to reduce carbon footprints: both in their own operations and for the general public. This follows on directly from carbon footprint galleries held last year in London in April and in Seoul in August.
Participants this year included The FA, Samsung Electronics, S-Oil, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, LG Electronics, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Western Power, Korea Southern Power, Asia Cement, Coway, Korail, Yuhan Kimberly, the British Embassy in Seoul, and Manchester United. Exhibitions ranged from expressionist paintings to online animation, and abstract sculpture to high-tech installation.
The exhibition in the UK was held at Wembley Stadium on the same weekend as the season-opening Community Shield match. A two metre-long giant football boot helped to communicate to attendees how The FA is reducing its own "carbon bootprint" and how fans can reduce their own. The same theme was used by Manchester United, exhibiting in Korea time with an installation demonstrating the club’s efforts to kick carbon out of football. The FA and Manchester United both hold the Carbon Trust Standard, certifying that they are continuously reducing emissions year-on-year, as do many of the Korean exhibitors.
In Seoul the exhibition coincided with a period of peak energy demand, as August sees air conditioning use at its highest, with the country facing nationwide blackouts last experienced in 2011. The gallery was opened by Korea’s Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the president of Consumers’ Union of Korea. More than 5,000 members of the public visited over the opening weekend. Global Korean brands including Samsung, Hyundai and LG created conceptual representations of how their products and services are helping to cut carbon around the world.
A number of leading businesses are doing serious work behind the scenes to reduce their carbon footprints. But sometimes it can be difficult to engage consumers with the complicated technical work involved in corporate environmental responsibility and action on climate change. Art has the power to convey complex messages and inspire people. This is why it is great to see responsible brands in the UK and Korea using art to help engage the public with sustainability, encouraging them to take action.
- Darran Messem, Managing Director of Certification at the Carbon Trust
In Korea interest in climate change issues is greater than it ever has been. There are also very real issues with energy shortages. Increasing the energy efficiency of products and services is becoming important for businesses, to reduce both power consumption and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Creativity is required to represent environmentally-friendly actions through art, and creativity is needed to find cost-effective ways to increase energy efficiency.
- Dongsoo Kim, Director of the Sustainability Management Center at KPC
Samsung Electronics continues to act on climate change, and has committed to achieving Carbon Trust certification to show that reductions are being made in our operations and products. Through this exhibition we hope to raise awareness of climate change and help visitors gain a deeper understanding of why we are taking the action on it.
- Sang-Kyu Lee, Managing Director of Samsung Electronics’ Wireless Business Division
Notes to Editors
About the Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust is an independent company with a mission to accelerate the move to a sustainable, low carbon economy. The Carbon Trust:
- advises businesses, governments and the public sector on opportunities in a sustainable, low carbon world.
- measures and certifies the environmental footprint of organisations, products and services.
- helps develop and deploy low carbon technologies and solutions, from energy efficiency to renewable power.
For further information please contact the Carbon Trust press office on 020 7170 7050 or press@carbontrust.com. Alternatively visit www.carbontrust.com.
