How to Listen to the Earth: Why and How to Be a Climate-Informed Music-Creator
By: Nina Martin
Climate change is the process of our planet heating up due to factors like burning fossil fuels, over-farming, and deforestation, and it’s deeply connected to social justice issues. While the crisis can feel overwhelming, nature has a remarkable ability to recover if given the chance. “There will never come a point at which acting to transform the world for the better isn’t worthwhile” (Mikaela Loach, It’s Not That Radical). Taking action doesn’t mean giving up your passions; music, for instance, can powerfully inspire empathy and drive a cultural shift toward valuing the planet. There are as many ways of being an activist as there are activists, and climate-informed music creators are coming together from across the world to build a powerful, and strong community to lead the music industry into a greener future – here are some ways to get involved!
Resources
Books/Magazines
Find books in your local library, or second hand on sites like World of Books and Vinted.
- It’s Not That Radical: Climate Action to Transform our World – Mikaela Loach
- Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul: How to Change the World in Quiet Ways – Dorcas Cheng-Tozun
- What Climate Justice Means and Why We Should Care – Elizabeth Cripps
- The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet – Leah Thomas
- There is No Planet B: A Handbook for the Make-or-Break Years – Mike Berners-Lee
- How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything – Mike Berners-Lee
- Climate Justice: A Man-Made Problem with a Feminist Solution – Mary Robinson
- How Women Can Save the Planet – Anne Karpf
Organisations
- No Music on a Dead Planet
- Sounds Right
- Earth Percent
- 1% for the Planet
- Forest Stewardship Council
- Rainforest Alliance
- B Corp
- Support and Feed
- Greenpeace
- Imagine5
- Earthed
Music
- Nature on Spotify (royalties generated from streams go towards climate action)
- Data Garden Quartet (plant-generated music)
- Madame Gandhi – Arctic: Instrumental Meditation
- Aurora – The Seed
- Ludovico Einaudi and Greenpeace – Elegy for the Arctic
- Jon Batiste - Petrichor
Other
- Tune Into Nature Music Prize
- Music Declares Emergency, Music Industry Climate Pack
- If you are struggling with Climate Anxiety, check out Headspace for mindfulness resources