What do Björk, Massive Attack and Neil Young have in common? Despite the temptation to reply, people I’ve cried to in the car (looking at you middle-aged men still stuck in the hacienda), it might surprise you that each act has been part of a larger global effort to fight climate change with music.
In September 2024, Neil Young – already well-known for his social activism after pulling his catalogue from Spotify in 2022 – joined fellow stars Ziggy Marley, Carole King and Annie Lenox in the Right Here Right Now Global Climate Alliance. The alliance, co-hosted by institutions including The University of Oxford, wanted to unite political, scientific and cultural leaders to hold intersectional conversations on what we can do to tackle climate change and human rights issues. Though the initiative invites constructive thought, it follows a concerning formula of Greenwashing that celebrities and organisations have usurped in a recent bid to scrub off their moral palimpsests.
However, this isn’t the way for all celebrity activists. Björk’s actions certainly seem more grounded in reality as she actively incorporates her iconoclastic attitude into creative projects, making her environmentalist demands an integral part of her artistic image. In 2011 the singer introduced the Biophilia app with a spoken message from David Attenborough, and in 2015 she threw down the gauntlet to the Icelandic president over his plans to industrialise local wilderness highlands. Most recently Björk has released Oral, a sonic collaboration with the genre-pushing Hispanic singer Rosalía in a bid to raise money against open net-pen fish farming in Iceland.
“Live music events and their touring cycles are carbon intensive & high polluting activities, and their incredible popularity cannot justify any denial of that limit.”
– Massive Attack
Massive Attack’s 2024 carbon-neutral concert was certainly a massive leap in the field of sustainable live music. Efforts to progress the onus of celebrities’ carbon footprints have recently been a large topic in online discourse, with celebrities like Jay Z, Taylor Swift and Floyd Mayweather Jr coming under fire for their liberal use of private jets. Defying this trend, the bristol-based trip-hop has championed a series of environmental campaigns, proving themselves to be aware and active in their efforts to combat climate change.
Other artists, like Coldplay, have swiftly tailored live performances to minimise their carbon footprints, incorporating tricks such as kinetic dance floors that generate electricity while fans get on their skin-tight boogies. Recyclable LED wristbands have also made appearances in recent live performances, though they carry their own sustainability issues.
These artists represent a broader movement in the industry towards environmentally conscious entertainment, though we are yet to see any long-term plans come into effect.