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IMPALA launches carbon calculator to help indie music companies become more environmentally sustainable
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 12 April 2022
IMPALA – the pan-European organisation for the independent music community – and sustainability charity Julie’s Bicycle have launched a bespoke carbon calculator to help independent music companies measure the environmental impact of their businesses, and to identify and achieve their climate goals.
Both IMPALA and Julie’s Bicycle confirmed they were working on building the calculator last October. The tool is now available to IMPALA members, going live just ahead of a special week of events next week organised by campaign group Music Declares Emergency, which will put the spotlight on the various ways that the music industry can become more sustainable, and play a more proactive role in the wider world to help tackle climate-based challenges.
IMPALA explains that the calculator tool has been “tailored to the needs of independent record companies” with “a customised layout as well as a help desk to facilitate carbon accounting”. The aim, the trade group adds, “is to make it easy for the sector to start measuring their impact and ensure no country or company gets left behind”.
Commenting on the calculator, Julie’s Bicycle CEO Alison Tickell says: “Having a custom-made calculator and a standardised framework for the recorded sector is a big step towards taking full responsibility. We are happy to be supporting IMPALA members on their mission to reach carbon neutrality”.
A number of the indie music companies actively involved in the creation of the calculator – including !K7 and Beggars – have started publishing their own sustainability reports which set out their objectives for making their businesses more sustainable, and then monitor their progress and achievements. Tools like this are designed to help a wider range of independent music companies undertake that kind of activity.
!K7 CEO Horst Weidenmüller – who also chairs IMPALA’s Sustainability Task Force – says: “Having published our own report, we want to make carbon accounting as simple as possible and accessible to all companies across Europe, and this tool will help us achieve that. This is what will really make the difference”.
Meanwhile Will Hutton, Head of Sustainability at Beggars Group, adds: “This is the start of the sector being able to report in a standardised way. This is very important to Beggars. We have started working on our own footprint and having information aligned across the sector is key”.
