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MAIN PHOTO: Kim Fry with MDE banner. (Image courtesy of Kim Fry and C<\/em>SN)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n International coalition with Halifax connection <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n works to green up the music industry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The following story is used with permission from the Climate Story Network<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n By Elizabeth Peirce, Climate Story Network<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n HALIFAX:<\/strong> The message is blunt: \u201cNo music on a dead planet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s the rallying cry behind Music Declares Emergency (MDE), a UK-based international not-for-profit corporation made up of musicians, music industry professionals, and organizations that have banded together to call for immediate government action on climate change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So far, eight thousand artists worldwide have signed the declaration, including Annie Lennox, Massive Attack, and Tegan and Sara \u2014 humanitarian award honorees at the 2024 Juno Awards in Halifax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”31″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”148″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Canadian chapter of MDE was launched in early 2021, thanks in part to the efforts of Kim Fry, a longtime climate organizer who now works as a Climate Change Specialist with HRM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a declaration of being in an ecological emergency and a number of commitments that involve using the platform of musicians and the cultural capital of music to call attention to the climate emergency, but also doing work within the music industry to make it more sustainable,\u201d Fry says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group has been a presence at conferences, panels, curated concerts, and music festivals \u2014 and now, with Canada\u2019s premiere music industry showcase right around the corner, MDE is coming to the Junos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I found out the Junos were going to be hosted in Halifax, we immediately reached out to the HRM climate department, where I now work, saying maybe we could do something together,\u201d says Fry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”34″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate group=”7″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the lead-up to the awards, on March 17, MDE will host a Climate Emergency Concert at the Rebecca Cohn Theatre. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the show at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The show will honour two Canadian music legends known for their commitment to environmental advocacy: Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, and showcase the work of other artists who are speaking out about climate and the need for cultural change related to the environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first-ever Canadian Environmental Music Awards, taking place later this year, will also be announced at the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another first? The Junos have a freshly minted sustainability subcommittee, co-chaired by Fry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have a bunch of initiatives: a climate stage in front of the Halifax Central Library that\u2019s all pedal-powered and solar powered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “We\u2019ve installed music-themed bike racks in front of music venues, and we\u2019re running a campaign to encourage people to take public transit or active transportation to Juno events, and music events in general,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”188″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”169″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Music fans can enjoy free rides on Halifax Transit\u2019s Free Junos shuttle to music venues during Juno week, which runs from March 21 to 24. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once at the venue, they\u2019ll find \u201csustainable merch boxes\u201d where they can recycle unwanted band t-shirts and merch or bring in blank t-shirts to be distributed to musicians for their own silk-screening projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The merch box initiative is part of a larger discussion about the environmental impacts of fashion, which is a key part of the music industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe know that fast fashion is a climate problem, and we know that people watch award shows to see what people are going to wear on the red carpet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”71″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n “This idea that every time you show up at a new event, you have to have a whole new dress instead of being able to re-wear or re-purpose it \u2014 that needs to change,\u201d Fry says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With all eyes on Halifax during the Junos, Fry sees an opportunity to bring about positive change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople listen to musicians and actors. So how do we make good use of that, to actually start taking climate action more seriously, to mainstream it a little bit more to audiences that haven\u2019t been as engaged?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Climate Story Network is an initiative of Climate Focus, a non-profit organization dedicated to covering stories about community-driven climate solutions.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”192″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”206″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [adrotate banner=”93″] [adrotate banner=”127″] MAIN PHOTO: Kim Fry with MDE banner. (Image courtesy of Kim Fry and CSN) International coalition with Halifax connection works to green up the music industry The following story is used with permission from the Climate Story Network By Elizabeth Peirce, Climate Story Network HALIFAX: The message is blunt: \u201cNo music […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[957],"tags":[6343,513,50,399,6344,6345,297,6346],"class_list":["post-43621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-climate-story-network","tag-environment","tag-halifax","tag-juno-awards","tag-junos","tag-kim-fry","tag-music","tag-music-declares-emergency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}