During the week of Earth Day 2021, IMPALA will be releasing a special 20MinutesWith podcast on April 22nd with Horst Weidenmüller and Alison Tickell on IMPALA’s recent sustainability programme announcement, including its carbon targets, climate charter and more. IMPALA will also publish guidance for members on April 23rd, with practical and effective solutions for members to make their businesses more sustainable.

This coincides with Music Declares Emergency’s #turnupthevolume week to shine a light on sustainability work across the music sector. Two IMPALA members who are leading the charge on sustainability have already made key announcements this week - Ninja Tune and Beggars will be carbon neutral by the end of 2021. See more from Ninja Tune here and Beggars here.

IMPALA’s podcast series is an initiative launched by the organisation to celebrate its 20th birthday and this week is the perfect opportunity to focus on sustainability. IMPALA’s aim on Thursday is to put the spotlight on what the programme hopes to achieve. On Friday, IMPALA’s attention turns to the practical, with tips being provided that will help interested members make changes in their business on a day-to-day basis.

Helen Smith, Executive Chair commented “Music Declares Emergency’s #turnupthevolume week is a fantastic way to highlight the work on sustainability taking place across the music sector. We will be implementing one of the most important elements of our own charter – providing practical guidance for members. The confirmation by two founding members of IMPALA’s task force that they will be carbon neutral by the end of the year is a great example. Moving to carbon negative beyond that, Ninja Tune and Beggars Group are really taking the lead here.”

IMPALA’s sustainability task force developed a sustainability programme, published on 8th April 2021. The plan includes carbon goals for 2026 (net zero) and 2030 (net positive), along with a climate charter, tips for members and more. These are the first music sector carbon targets and is also the first initiative that includes the supply chain (e.g. in point 10 of our streaming recommendations we ask online services to work with us to assess and reduce the carbon footprint of digital music). The programme is voluntary for members – the targets are sector level.

One of IMPALA’s aims is to produce the first carbon calculator for recorded music to help labels assess the impact of their own business and their supply chain, and we look to the sector to join us in this endeavour.