Music’s Hope in the Face of the Climate Crisis
by REVERB Co-Founders and Co-Executive Directors Lauren Sullivan and Adam Gardner
With all of the doom and gloom surrounding the climate crisis in recent years, many people are understandably feeling helpless, anxious or just plain numb. And last month’s report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasized the harsh reality we are facing if we continue to do business as usual.
Yet despite recent news and the slow pace of climate progress from governments and corporations, we truly feel a sense of hope. Why? Because while the science is clear that we’re heading down a disastrous path for people and the planet, it is also unequivocal in showing that IF we take immediate, serious action, there is still a real opportunity to create a future that avoids the worst impacts of the climate crisis. We believe music can lead this fight for our future.
In the nearly 20 years since we started our nonprofit, REVERB, to reduce the environmental footprint of music and create positive impacts for people and the planet, we’ve seen music’s unique potential to play a major role in the climate fight. While the music community alone can’t reverse course on the climate crisis, it does have an outsized opportunity to become a leading, sustainable industry and drive the cultural, technical and logistical shift toward a decarbonized, sustainable and equitable future.