In March we heard from Becky Young, Head of Ops & Community at EarthPercent, about how the charity works with the Music Industry to harness the power of music in service to our planet, what they have achieved since being founded by Brian Eno three years ago, their plans for the future and how festivals can get involved:
“EarthPercent, co-founded by Brian Eno, stands as a beacon of hope within the music industry, inviting all its stakeholders to harness the power of music in service to our planet. Whether you’re an artist, festival organiser, event executive, or part of an industry organisation, we offer a unique opportunity to embrace the Earth as a vital stakeholder in your business, artistry or the industry at large. With the fact that only a mere 3% of global philanthropic giving is allocated to climate causes, we believe that mobilising the music community to direct funds towards those combating the climate crisis is one of the most impactful actions we can take.
In less than 3 years, we’ve already achieved significant milestones. Through various pilot initiatives, such as enlisting new artists and festivals to pledge a percentage of their revenue, curating an Earth Day Bandcamp release featuring 123 artists, establishing The Earth as a writer that can be co-credited by songwriters, and collaborating with Evolution Music to introduce the first commercially available bioplastic vinyl record, we’ve begun making tangible strides. These efforts have allowed us to raise over $1million, with approximately $500,000 having been so far distributed among 20 grant partner organisations. However, this is merely the dawn of our journey. EarthPercent’s mission is to double our grant giving every six months, with the goal to surpass $100 million in contributions by 2030.
To accelerate our progress, we’re thrilled to announce several new initiatives slated for 2024, transitioning from pilot projects to full-scale implementation across various sectors, including live events, publishing, merchandise, and beyond.
One notable part of our fundraising on our horizon involves leveraging the lively national and global festival circuit to help us much needed money for organisations doing frontline work to tackle the planetary crises. Moreover, we stand ready to support festivals with tailored content and programming focused on climate action and solutions, ensuring consistent messaging and resonance among attendees, artists, and industry stakeholders.
How EarthPercent Works: A Call to Action for Festivals
EarthPercent operates by collecting a modest percentage of revenue or regular donations from across the music industry, pooling these resources into our Grant Giving fund. Guided by a panel of world-leading experts comprising scientists, researchers, and activists, we identify and fund the most impactful solutions across five key action areas:
- Nature preservation and restoration
- Climate justice
- Systemic and policy change
- A just energy transition
- Decarbonization of the music industry
We’ve so far directed funds raised to esteemed organisations such as Client Earth, Women4Oceans, Cool Earth, and the Youth Climate Justice Fund, among others. This achievement stands as a testament to the collective efforts of artists, events, agents, managers, lawyers, and various industry stakeholders.
Partnering with EarthPercent offers festivals a meaningful opportunity to contribute to climate-positive solutions while communicating to fans the importance of environmental stewardship inherent in their festival ethos. Festivals can include a percentage or fixed donation in ticket prices, sponsor fees, or guest list donations, bolstered by our support in programming environmental talks, panels, or workshops.
We’re proud to have garnered support from esteemed festivals like AVA, Forwards Festival, Blue Dot, Love International, Glastonbury, Lost Village, Mutek, Wide Awake, We Out Here, and Wilderness. Yet, our journey is far from over. We invite more festivals to join us in championing a sustainable future through music, making a tangible difference for our planet and future generations.”
Read EarthPercent’s 2022-23 Impact Report
Learn more about EarthPercent and get involved at https://earthpercent.org/
Twitter @earthpercentorg
Instagram @earthpercent
Facebook @earthpercent
Follow Becky on Linkedin
This blog originally appeared in our March 2024 Vision: 2025 newsletter. Sign up to receive monthly event sustainability news, case studies and guest blogs direct to your inbox.