Coldplay, Brian Eno and Anna Calvi have joined a campaign using playlists to encourage action against climate change.
They are among 60 artists, festivals and industry groups who have curated selections for the environmental law charity ClientEarth.
The collective hope is to prompt public discussion in the run-up to the Cop26 UN climate conference being held in Glasgow in November.
Named Playlists For Earth, the song titles on each list read as a sentence to communicate a message about the climate.
London festivals British Summer Time and All Points East, artists Hot Chip and Milky Chance, and record labels including Dirty Hit, the home of The 1975, have all pledged to support the campaign.
In 2019, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said the band had put a hold on their globe-trotting tour in support of their album Everyday Life so they could ensure it was carbon neutral.
Mercury Prize nominated singer-songwriter Calvi said: “We should be talking about the climate crisis now more than ever, and taking action to protect the planet we love. We need to see a massive cultural change and an immediate Government response.
“That’s why I wanted to be a part of Playlists For Earth, to spark conversation and explore what’s happening in the world in a new way in the lead-up to the UN climate conference. It’s so important that we use our position in the arts to say something, as art really has the power to turn people’s attention to issues.”
London-born funk and jazz artist Tom Misch said: “I’m happy to be involved in Playlists For Earth. I think music can be a good way of getting people talking ahead of the UN climate conference this year.”
ClientEarth, the international group behind the project, is a non-profit organisation that uses the law to hold governments and companies to account over climate change and adjacent issues such as air pollution.
Its founding chief executive James Thornton said: “As an eco-lawyer, my work is about making the future safe for people. I know harnessing the power of art and artists is fundamental to achieving that goal.
“Laws are the rules we agree on how we want to collectively interact with each other and with the planet – but first we have to imagine and communicate what we want that to look like.
“There are no more powerful tools to do so than art, music and literature. That’s why, ahead of Cop26, and five years on from the Paris Agreement, we have joined forces with musicians, record labels, creatives and festivals to reframe and mix up the climate discussion using the most universal language we have – music.
“Playlists For Earth harnesses music’s global reach to ignite vital conversations with new audiences – conversations of solution not disaster.”
People can listen at playlistsforearth.com or by searching #PlaylistsForEarth on Spotify.
