The world's polar regions are in crisis, warming faster than any area on Earth. The Antarctic and Arctic are seeing ocean and air temperature rise twice as fast as elsewhere. Meanwhile, the neglected Third Pole, the Himalaya-Hindu Kush mountain range and Tibetan Plateau, called the Water Tower of Asia and sustaining two billion people in the region, is experiencing 80% glacier retreat.

How does art respond to catastrophe? At London Climate Action Week, join us for a conversation with three leading female artists using a variety of media for insights from their recent projects in the Antarctic and Arctic respectively.

Polly Townsend, was recently Artist-in-Residence in Antarctica with the Royal Navy and has produced spellbinding oil and charcoal tableaux of the landscape. Alice Boyd, composer, sound designer and Artist-in-Residence at the Eden Project, has recently collaborated with filmmaker, Michelle Sanders, on the Arctic Ice film project. Moderating the conversation will be broadcaster and journalist, Isabel Hilton, who has long explored these themes as founder and former editor-in-chief of China Dialogue and The Third Pole.

  • Non-Society eventA collage of portrait photos of four people, the top two and bottom right one each stand outdoors in a garden, while the person in the bottom left is inside.

    How to design a garden to suit you

    Join award-winning landscape designers Joe Swift, Polly Wilkinson and James Alexander-Sinclair who have all created or are creating a beautiful, accessible garden for nationwide charity Horatio’s Garden – together with TV presenter and gardener Rachel de Thame as they talk through how to design the garden of your dreams.

    £25.00 - £75.00
  • DiscussionLandfill site with quarry in the background, with dust and birds in the air.

    Climate change and the law: obstacles and opportunities

    Join the RGS-IBG Climate Change Research Group for a panel exploring how law can drive global climate action, enforce accountability, and overcome legal barriers to cutting carbon emissions.

  • SummitThree seals on a small iceberg in the middle of the sea with snow-covered mountain in the background

    Summit photo

    Join us from 26 to 28 September for the first edition of our new photography event, Summit Photo. Book now to hear from renowned photographers.

    £22.50 - £75.00