The first-ever Canadian Music Climate Summit sparked a conversation about sustainability within the music industry

By: Peyton Lake

“There is no music on a dead planet.”

This mantra was a large emblem ringing loudly throughout the very first Canadian Music Climate Summit on Oct. 21, hosted by the environmentalist group Music Declares Emergency (MDE). The summit brought together a variety of people working within the music industry, from artists and managers to tour directors and outfit designers, to discuss the roles they play in the climate crisis and their goal of a carbon-neutral industry.

Since 2019, the U.K. organization MDE has been spreading their messages through summits and concerts to inform the industry about the abundant opportunities for sustainable change — and they’ve finally reached Canada.

Panels were held throughout the day to discuss operational changes in the industry. Topics ranged from how band tours are being run to the environmental footprint that the industry creates to how artists can help spread awareness about environmental issues. The group also helped guide music lovers in making sustainable changes in their own lives, such as choosing environmentally friendly transportation methods to get to and from concerts and upcycling old merchandise they may not wear anymore.

World-renowned environmentalist David Suzuki was the keynote speaker at the conference. Suzuki explained in his presentation that simply raising awareness is not enough for the music industry, as they are a large part of the issue. People in the music industry contribute to global climate change through the emissions created by travelling on tour buses and planes, the amount of water used to produce merchandise and many other factors.

“We need to make the switch from [the] consumers to the restorers of nature’s generosity,” said Suzuki in his keynote speech.

Suzuki additionally highlighted the importance of demanding structural changes in government policy as well as standards within the music industry.

The rest of the day included panels from industry leaders such as Kelley Drennan, founding executive director of Fashion Takes Action (FTA). FTA is a non-profit organization that focuses on promoting sustainable fashion in Canada. She discussed what physical steps can be taken to help reduce the footprint the industry leaves behind.

“We don’t need to own as much as we own. There are a lot of great companies that offer rentals now,” said Drennan when asked how consumers can help reduce the amount of merchandise wasted during the panel. She explained that artists could rent performance attire to reduce the use of single-use costumes.

Drennan also explained how vintage shopping and upcycling concert-goers’ outfits are becoming more popular and reducing the amount consumers buy in the first place.

On the industry side, many of the speakers talked about how they have to push for greener tours, which can simply involve taking the small step of omitting plastic water bottles.

A Greener Festival co-founder and CEO Claire O’Neill talked about encouraging the rock band Bring Me The Horizon to go completely vegan and use renewable fuel alternatives throughout their 2021 U.K. tour. By implementing this sustainable touring approach, the band was able to reduce their emissions by 38 per cent, and even though their tour involved more than 80 people, every single member committed to eating vegan for the entirety of the trip, according to O’Neill.

“Ultimately we are trying to get all of these different pieces of the industry to start pushing in the same direction,” said O’Neill in the panel. She touched on the large change that green tours can have when a team comes together to achieve a clear goal.

This large jump was successful for Bring Me The Horizon’s tour, but Ben Swanson, the owner of the record label The Secretly Group, explained that even little steps are helpful in reducing the industry’s harm. Swanson’s label is based on a plan of sustainability that makes their company completely carbon neutral.

“Little steps add up over time,” said Swanson during a panel discussion. “It creates a forward momentum for whatever leading-edge technology will come next. It shows that people care about this.”