FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT IS THE MUSIC CLIMATE PACT?
The Music Climate Pact is a global platform, initiated by the UK’s Association of Independent Music (AIM) and in collaboration with UK record labels association the BPI, as a response to COP26 and the urgent call for collective action to combat the climate crisis. Given our unparalleled reach, we have a unique opportunity to help artists and audiences engage with climate issues.
The Pact sets out a series of high-level commitments that will serve as a declaration of intent for the global music sector.
The Pact brings together key actors (the independent music community, major music groups, and others) to align as a sector and address our biggest environmental impacts in an efficient and collaborative way.
We believe that through collective action and a unified voice, the music industry will be best-placed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate our contribution to global climate change and ignite broader societal action on the climate crisis.
The Pact will help to ensure that we bring our own businesses up to speed and share knowledge in an efficient way. We’ll use this platform to regularly update on our progress.
WHO HAS SIGNED THE MUSIC CLIMATE PACT?
The Pact is being launched with the following founding Signatories:
Anjunabeats / Beggars Group / BMG / Brownswood Recordings / Full Time Hobby / Inside Recordings / !K7 Music / Ninja Tune / Secretly Group / Sony Music Group / Universal Music Group / Warner Music Group / Warp
WHY NOW?
The science is very clear. Urgent action is required to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels and avoid catastrophic runaway climate change. The decisions that we make now, as an industry and as individual businesses, are vital if we are to take meaningful and timely action.
Following on from the Paris Agreement, governments and businesses from across the world have launched ambitious programmes to reduce carbon emissions. The Music Climate Pact represents the aligned response of the global music industry to this cause.
WHAT COMMITMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE?
The Pact’s founder Signatories have committed to:
Take individual and collective action to measure and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions (scopes 1, 2 and 3)
By February 2022, either have signed the Science Based Targets standard commitment letter stating that we 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 DSPs 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
Businesses signing up after the launch must have already signed up to one of the two pathways.
Signatories of the Music Climate Pact will take steps that are prescribed by internationally recognised, best-practice frameworks, including the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), and the Race to Zero programme.
Using these frameworks as a basis for action sets our industry on a glide-path towards achieving decarbonisation in alignment with the latest climate science, to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
See below for more information about the SBTi and Race to Zero programmes.
WHAT ARE PACT SUPPORTERS?
Commercial businesses in music work with a wide range of partners to create and deliver music (including trade organisations, consultancies and NGOs). Through these relationships, the global music sector has the ability to innovate, put out incredible music and shift culture.
As part of the wider music ecosystem, these organisations play an essential role in the decarbonisation of our industry. Supporters of the Music Climate Pact are businesses and organisations that share our vision for a cleaner, more efficient music market. Towards this end, Supporters agree to work with Pact Signatories in the reciprocal sharing of data, knowledge, and resources to help deliver the Pact commitment.
These include the Association of Independent Music (AIM), A2IM, The BPI, EarthPercent, Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), IFPI, IMPALA, Julie's Bicycle, Key Production Group, Music Declares Emergency and the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN). View the full list here.
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS FOR THE PACT?
Within six months of the launch (June 2022), we hope to have hundreds of businesses signed up to the Pact.
Significant updates and news will be added here: musicclimatepact.com/news.
By February 2022, each founding member of the Pact will either have signed the SBTi Standard Commitment letter stating that we will commit to setting science-based emissions reduction targets or will have joined the Race to Zero programme.
Day-to-day, we’ll continue to collaborate to build and deploy scientifically-robust tools that will help us measure and report on our decarbonisation efforts - such as a music industry carbon calculator – and work with supply chain partners to act on environmental issues that are common to each of our businesses, including emissions from the creation and distribution of music.
WHAT DO THOSE NEXT STEPS LOOK LIKE IN PRACTICE FOR THE SIGNATORIES?
The Music Climate Pact ensures that each of the Signatory businesses align with internationally recognised, best-practice climate mitigation frameworks in the Science Based Targets initiative and/or the UN Race to Zero platform. Using these frameworks as a basis for action sets our industry on a glide-path towards achieving decarbonisation in alignment with the latest climate science.
Next steps depend on which of the two pathways the business sign-ups to:
1. Science Based Targets initiative
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a global body enabling businesses to set ambitious emissions reductions targets in line with the latest climate science.
The initiative is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and one of the We Mean Business Coalition commitments.
Organisations that sign the SBTi Commitment Letter must:
Develop a science-based decarbonisation target aligned with the SBTi criteria
Submit the target to the SBTi for third-party validation
Publish details of the target online
Once targets have been validated, companies must disclose emissions on an annual basis and report on progress against the verified target.
2. Race to Zero
The Race to Zero Campaign is a UN-backed programme that thousands of businesses have used to demonstrate action on climate change, designed to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, investors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth.
Organisations that sign up to the Race to Zero programme must:
Pledge: At Head of organisation level, to reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as soon as possible, and by 2050 at the latest, and set an interim decarbonisation target aimed at reducing emissions by 50%, by 2030
Plan: Establish a plan to achieve the pledge
Proceed: Take immediate action towards achieving the pledge
Publish: Commit to report publicly on progress
Both the SBTi and Race to Zero programmes have bespoke criteria for SMEs (small to medium enterprises). These can be found in the SME Science Based targets setting form and the SME Climate Commitment.
WHAT SUPPORT WILL THE SIGNATORIES RECEIVE IN ACHIEVING TARGETS?
The pathways set out in the Pact provide support to businesses that commit to them.
Signatories to the Pact commit to sharing data and information that will help other Signatories, in addition to bespoke collaborative tools being built for signatories to access.
AIM (with the AIM Climate Action Group) and the BPI will be working with and supporting their respective memberships, their counterparts around the world, and wider music community, to fulfil their commitments.
WHAT SUPPORT WILL SMALLER BUSINESSES, WHO MAY NOT KNOW WHETHER THEY CAN JOIN AND HOW TO NAVIGATE THE NECESSARY FRAMEWORK, RECEIVE?
The Pact is a way for the global music sector to come together. Businesses are at different stages of their sustainability journey and founder Signatories want to help bring everyone along with them.
Both the SBTi and Race to Zero programmes have bespoke criteria for SMEs (small to medium enterprises). These can be found in the SME Science Based targets setting form and the SME Climate Commitment.
The IMPALA Carbon Calculator, due for release by Spring 2022, should mean that SMEs that may have limited resources can begin measuring their emissions in a straightforward way.
By signing up to the SME Climate Commitment (one of the two pathways), businesses have 18 months to produce their first emissions report, with support from AIM and the BPI.
Businesses may also wish to wait to sign up to the Pact once the IMPALA calculator is released and operational, which is one option to measure their emissions.
AIM (with the AIM Climate Action Group) and the BPI will be working with and supporting their respective memberships, their counterparts around the world, and wider music community, to get to the place where they are in a position to sign up to one of the frameworks and join the Pact.
WHAT IS THE CONNECTION WITH THE UN ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMME (UNEP)?
The UNEP provided support and initial guidance to establish sector-driven decarbonisation efforts during the conceptualisation and launch of the Pact. Going forward, we will continue to liaise with UNEP on sector guidance to help Pact members drive individual decarbonisation work and translate learnings from other sector-based initiatives, such as Playing for the Planet.
WHAT WORK IS ALREADY BEING DONE IN THE SECTOR TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE?
We will continue with our projects already in progress, build tools together and share knowledge to instigate real change. This Pact seeks to unite and take forward existing and future climate initiatives.
This builds on steps already taken by Signatories including Anjunabeats, Beggars Group, BMG, Full Time Hobby, Ninja Tune, Secretly Group, Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.
Examples of initiatives from Signatories include AIM’s Climate Action Group, the Group’s and Republic of Music’s Near-Mint Vinyl initiative to reduce vinyl waste, and the IMPALA Carbon Calculator (to be launched by Spring 2022) – an upcoming tool for the independent music sector. Other signatories will also explore music industry initiatives, such as potential sectoral guidance with the SBTi initiative.
Good work in the live sector includes Live Nation Green Nation Touring Program, Effect Partners and Reverb.
We will also continue to support and collaborate with impactful, innovative and solutions-based initiatives and organisations like Music Declares Emergency, Julie’s Bicycle and Earth Percent.
Working groups across the major and independent landscape, both within individual companies and connecting multiple organisations, have long been led by core staff who have stood up and been committed to making change. The vision of these groups is to maximise the sustainability of the music sector through collaborative action.
The Pact is a natural next step to make a unified statement of intent and formalise this collaborative work.
‘Record Labels Sustainability Meeting’ with AIM and BPI members
Many record labels are taking assertive action on sustainability. But to have the biggest impact in the shortest time, it is essential that the industry follows a joined-up approach involving independent and major music businesses as well as associations.
‘AIM Climate Action Group (CAG)'
Formed in 2019 by leaders in the independent community to:
1. Help members reduce carbon emissions form their activities, with a focus on those areas that have the biggest environmental impact
2. Raise awareness of the climate emergency by influencing our members, artists, independent music fans and supply chain partners in a positive way
3. Bring about systemic change through lobbying for governmental and legislative reform and by negotiating preferential rates on low-impact products and services
4. Share knowledge and expertise to facilitate collaboration, the adoption of best-practice and widespread climate literacy within our membership
More info on the AIM CAG.
Read the joint press release.
how can i find out more about the pact?
Please get in touch at contact[at]musicclimatepact[dot]com.