The Bad Activist Collective, SOS: Concert for the Planet, EarthPercent, Climate Control Projects!

THE BAD ACTIVIST COLLECTIVE

Don’t hate me because I’m middle. Because I’m middle, I can see something at least two ways—in this case the name of this group, the Bad Activist Collective—as either wonderfully ironic, or enthusiastically earnest. Either way, they’re a gang of do-gooders worth getting to know.

Bad Activist Collective is a space dedicated to connecting activists, justice seekers and change makers from all around the globe to combat systems of oppression and fight for a better future for people & the planet. It was founded by three intersectional climate activists, Tori Tsui, Kisjonah Roos and Julia Gentner, and started as a podcast exploring the trials and tribulations of trying to be a perfect activist in an utterly imperfect world.

It has since expanded to a multi-media platform run by a collective of activists, artists, story-tellers and change-makers and is now a production of the Climate Control Project.

Ways to support these bad activists include listening to the podcast (six in the series so far), reading the blog, or supporting their work on Patreon. Oh and did I mention there’s a Bad Activist Manifesto? Jus in case you too wish to become a bad activist…too.

DEEPER DIVE: Bad Activist Collective, BAC Manifesto, Patreon

SOS: CONCERT FOR THE PLANET

Climate Control Projects announces a first-of-its-kind music festival, entitled SOS: Concert for the Planet, to take place in the United States in Summer 2022. Dates, Venue and Line-up to be announced later this year. The event will be produced in partnership with Mike Luba from AEG Global Touring/Madison House Presents. 

SOS: Concert for the Planet will be a multi-day music festival featuring an intergenerational line-up of artists and speakers, as well as immersive on-site activations and video content produced by Emmy Award winning climate storytellers The Years Project. The goal of SOS: Concert for the Climate is to harness the power of music to activate a broad trans-partisan audience and create a critical mass of climate-centered voters and consumers. 

According to Climate Control Projects CEO and EarthPercent US Board Member Kurt Langer: “SOS is the universal distress signal and the SOS: Concert for the Planet was born out of the music community’s desire — especially among artists — to answer that call. Rather than wait on the sidelines for governments and corporations to act, artists are now leading the charge and using their extraordinary public platforms to address the climate emergency.” 

The SOS Concert is the flagship event of Climate Control Projects, which was founded in 2020 with a mission of working within popular culture to create awareness, accountability and action around the issue of climate change. Keep it locked onto The Climate Daily to get more information about the actual dates for SOS: Concert for the Planet.

DEEPER DIVE: ClimateControlProjects, TheYearsProject, EarthPercent

EARTHPERCENT

Someone who is hoping to help the industry take the lead in the battle against climate change is Brian Eno– famed musician (Roxy Music, Fripp & Eno) founded EarthPercent, and organization aiming to raise $100m from the music industry by 2030.

To do this it is asking artists, music companies and industry people to commit a small percentage of their income to its fund. The money will then support various projects and causes tackling climate change.

Why are they doing this and why does it matter to us? Eno notes that “currently, less than 2% of global philanthropic funding is dedicated to addressing climate change, not nearly enough to meet the scale of the global challenge.” So the mission of EarthPercent is to give direct and meaningful support to those at the forefront of climate justice while reducing our impact on the planet—as an industry and as part of a global society.”

Eno decided to take action after conversations with many in the music industry who want to do something to address the climate crisis but simply don’t know how. EarthPercent will work with scientists and experts to identify and fund the most promising solutions.  Additionally, EarthPercent has signed on to be the official charity partner of SOS: Concert for the Planet.

DEEPER DIVE: EarthPercent, IG, SOS: Climate for the Planet

CLIMATE CONTROL PROJECTS

Here’s how the organization Climate Control Projects fully describes itself: “Climate Control Projects was founded in 2020 with a mission of working within popular culture to create awareness, accountability and action around the issue of climate change. We produce content and events that engage mainstream audiences and connect them on a personal level to the climate crisis, leading them to immediately accessible and actionable solutions.”

CCP is led by a fascinating lineup of creatives including founder/chief brand officer Paul Biedrzycki (Beed-Rizkey) who comes from the fashion and automotive industries. Julia Gentner, from the Bad Activist Collective is also program manager for Grow Ahead, a group that partners with small-scale farmers globally to fund community-led resiliency projects. Kurt Langer, founder/CEO who used to be the Minister of Information for the Milarepa Fund. It was a Beastie Boys initiative that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert Series.

Kisjonah Roos, who cut their teeth in climate action aboard the Sail to the COP project– a diverse group of changemakers who travelled to the UN Climate Conference COP25 in NYC in 2019. Perry Serpa, CCP’s head of artist engagement, ran PR for the Tibetan Freedom Concerts alongside Langer. And Tori Tsui, a founding member of the Bad Activist Collective who was also on the Sail to COP boat, and is founder of the # Pass The Mic Climate campaign.

CCP’s projects or “channels” include the Bad Activist Collective, Creative Climate Podcast, Pass the Mic Climate Campaign, and Sweatpants, another climate change podcast.

Why does Climate Control Projects matter to us? Not just because CCP is headquartered in a soon-to-be underwater part of NYC that was stolen from the Lenape people in 1624. But also because they’re taking a creative approach to rounding up support to tackle climate change. And for something this serious, a little humor is a good thing.

DEEPER DIVE: ClimateControlProjects, Sweatpants, Climate Town, PassTheMic