A group of leading music companies has signed a wide-ranging commitment to
decarbonize the global music business in alignment with the latest climate
science.
Initiated by the UK’s Association of Independent Music (AIM) in
collaboration with UK record labels association the BPI, the founding
signatories of the Music Climate Pact span
numerous areas of the music business and include all three major music groups —
Sony, Universal and Warner — as well as world-renowned independents
Beggars Group, BMG, Brownswood Recordings, Ninja Tune, Secretly Group, Warp
and others.
By February 2022, founding signatories will be required to sign up to one of two
schemes — the Science Based Targets Initiative
(SBTi)
or the UN-backed Race to Zero SME Climate
Commitment
— to ensure signatories work with experts to set and execute actionable climate
targets on which they will report regularly.
The Pact, developed with support from the UN Environmental Programme, marks
a significant step in aligning the global music business, and the measures
already taken by individual companies, around a coherent and
industry-coordinated strategy — and unify existing climate initiatives.
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For some signatories, this could include AIM’s Climate Action Group, the
Group’s Near-Mint Vinyl
initiative to reduce vinyl
waste, and IMPALA’s (which represents Europe’s independent labels) Carbon
Calculator — an upcoming tool for the independent music sector. Other
signatories will look to fulfil this commitment through exploring music
industry guidance for the SBTi
initiative;
as well as build on steps already taken by Beggars Group,
BMG,
Ninja Tune, Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and
others.
Members also commit to sharing data, insights and resources, as well as
providing support for artists to engage and speak up about climate issues.
Paul Redding, CEO of Beggars Group, said: “The Music Climate Pact shows the
willingness of the whole music industry to work collaboratively on climate
issues. Building on IMPALA’s project to develop a carbon calculator tool, all
signatories will be pulling in the same direction on sustainability topics. This
will help our industry achieve carbon reductions more efficiently as we carry
out the same work, in the same way, at the same time.”
The Pact hopes to grow quickly from its list of initial signatories, with
hundreds more companies from around the world expected to sign by June 2022.
AIM, the BPI, IMPALA and other national and international organizations will
continue to provide support to encourage other businesses to sign up and deliver
on the Pact.
In addition to its signatories, the Music Climate Pact also has a number of
registered supporters — businesses and organizations that help create and
deliver music, and which share the same vision for a cleaner, more efficient and
sustainable music market. Supporters agree to work with signatories in the
reciprocal sharing of data, knowledge and resources to help deliver the Pact’s
goals. Initial supporters include IFPI, Worldwide Independent Network,
Julie’s Bicycle, Key
Production and Music Declares
Emergency.
Through these relationships, the global music sector is working to innovate, put
out incredible music to a mass audience and shift culture by inspiring change.
“The music community must take a leadership position on this most urgent of
issues to support the work already being progressed by record labels to make
their operations more sustainable,” said Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive of
BPI & the BRIT Awards. “It means not just taking our own effective and
coordinated industry action to respond to the climate crisis — but using the
power of music to help inspire others in effecting meaningful change.”
The Pact’s founding signatories commit to:
-
Take individual and collective action to measure and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions (scopes 1, 2 and 3)
-
By February 2022, have either signed the SBTi standard commitment
letter
stating that they will commit to setting science-based targets or will have
joined the Race to Zero
programme
-
Work together as an industry to establish carbon-measurement methodologies,
tools and frameworks backed by climate science
-
Work in partnership with shared suppliers and digital streaming platforms to obtain data and drive emission-reduction projects in a
collaborative fashion
-
Support artists in speaking up on climate issues
-
Communicate openly with fans about the impacts of the music industry.
Peter Quicke, Co-CEO of Ninja Tune, said: "Music is a powerful force for
community and communication, from live shows to live streams, from music on
social media to the simple sharing your favourite music with friends. So, we
have a responsibility to ensure the power of music is used to help combat the
climate crisis, that the voices of artists and labels are used to call for
change. One key part of that is for music to reduce its own footprint, and to
engage with our upstream and downstream partners in reducing their footprint,
and so accelerate the response to the climate crisis — the Music Climate Pact is
a big step along this path.”
For more info on the Music Climate Pact and the full list of signatories, click here.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Dec 23, 2021 7am EST / 4am PST / 12pm GMT / 1pm CET