Taylor said that after hearing Bartlett speaking about the Solomon Islands they invited her to be a speaker at one of their events.
She said: “It was such a wake up call for us both.”
They also saw a BBC interview by Ade Adepitan about the island of Kale, which has been lost to rising water levels, and wanted to do something to raise awareness.
The sea around the Solomon Islands is rising faster than the average for the rest of the world, due to global warming and regional changes.
A number of islands have already disappeared beneath the South Pacific.
Cullen said they heard Bartlett had approached a sculptor called Jason deCaires Taylor, who specialises in underwater art.
He created a 4m (13ft) tall sculpture of Bartlett leaning against a tree on a concrete base, which could be submerged in the water.
Taylor said the “Solomon Siren” would stand above the waves at first, but also record how sea levels were rising.
By 2046, she said they expected the figure of Bartlett to be lost beneath the waves.
Cullen said: “This is such a different approach from just telling us about the statistics and things, it’s an artistic, creative approach.”
She said it was important for them to act to “give that sense of something that’s happening on the other side of the world, but is also happening here”.
She pointed to extreme weather and flooding in Shropshire and said it was important to act on climate change.
The money raised will be used to pay for a barge to take the sculpture to the spot where it will be submerged and then assemble it in the water.