Brian Eno claims climate change remains “the most important problem”
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(Credits: Cecily Eno)
A legendary songwriter, performer, artist, and producer, the life of Brian Eno has always been multi-faceted. Even within the confines of the music industry, Eno has managed to stretch his influence over countless different projects and activities. In more recent years, though, the political views and activism of the Melton-born musician have risen to the forefront.
Over the past few decades, Eno has lent his time to various different political struggles, from advocating a boycott of Israel back in 2006, to endorsing then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in 2015. Most prominently, however, the producer has been unwavering in his aims to tackle climate change. So much so that Eno co-founded the charity EarthPercent, which calls on artists and musicians to donate a portion of their income to help fight climate change.
The reasons for Eno’s interest in fighting climate change should come as no surprise. After all, the changing climate is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity today. During a recent appearance on In the Studio, Eno echoed this view. “I notice that hardly any of our politicians are talking about the most important problem,” he shared. “The most important problem isn’t a few immigrants coming into the country on boats. The most important problem isn’t China developing AI.”
“The most important problem is that the ship is sinking,” the musician explained, “and it’s happening quite fast, and a lot of my friends and people I knew were also concerned about this issue. What can we do about it? Those people in government aren’t doing anything about it. How can the rest of us do anything? Well, we have to somehow take it into our own hands.”
This is where EarthPercent comes into play. According to Eno, the charity is built upon “this idea of tapping into the very many income streams that there are in music and saying to people, would you give us 1% of that? Would you give us 1% of your tour income? Would you give us 1% of an album income?” Hundreds of artists have supported the cause, including the likes of English Teacher, Warmduscher, Say She She, and Wide Awake Festival, to name a few.”
The former Roxy Music man continued: “We want to sort of insert a little tap to that huge flow and siphon some off and put it into these good people who are doing great work all over the world,” Eno explained, “People working in the rainforests of Papua New Guinea, local people who look after the forest. It’s where they live. Those are the people we should be giving money to.”
Concluding this message of activism and hope for the future, Eno said, “It’s a very simple idea, and it’s starting to work.” Indeed, more and more artists are starting to support EarthPercent in an effort to combat climate change and show solidarity with those living in places like Papua New Guinea who are suffering from the devastating effects of the climate crisis.
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