The Music Climate Pact publishes its Annual Report

The Music Climate Pact (MCP) today publishes its Annual Report, highlighting key areas of progress in the 12 months to Earth Day 2026 (22 April).

This has been led by the foundational work of three Working Groups – each with their co-chairs, expert input, and contributors drawn from the Pact’s Signatories and Supporters – that were set up to study and deliver solutions around digital consumption, vinyl production and climate training.

The work around digital and vinyl has focused on developing a granular understanding of their carbon impact and how, with all parts of their respective value chains working together, meaningful reductions can be made to achieve sustainable decarbonisation that also takes account of the industry’s strategic needs. The approach recognises that progress requires the industry’s workforce to be invested in the idea of change and be given the tools to become more climate literate.

Roxy Erickson, Music Climate Pact Project Manager, said:

“The goals of the Music Climate Pact are as ambitious as they are vital to achieve. Bringing together all parts of the global music industry to rethink their priorities and practises, as we look to collectively decarbonise, is no easy undertaking, but there is a real commitment across the music community to achieve meaningful change so we can build a more sustainable future. 

“As we began to map out how best to achieve our goals, it became clear our priority had to be to improve the base data so that we could fully understand where our biggest impacts can be made as we work with all parts of the value chain to create positive action. At the same time, we need to upskill our industry’s workforce with sustainable practices and knowledge to ensure best practise becomes second nature.

“I am so pleased that all three working groups are making such strides in understanding the challenges and where the opportunities lie to put forward practical recommendations that, once accepted, will create a route map for meaningful change. My sincere thanks to everyone involved for their valued contributions.”

Convened by the UK’s Association of Independent Music (AIM) in collaboration with UK labels association, the BPI, the MCP was established by record company Signatories and industry Supporters to harness the power of the recorded music industry in inspiring transformational action on the climate crisis. Its core aim is to ‘decarbonise’ the global music business in alignment with climate science. See Notes for details.

The MCP, developed with support from the UN Environmental Programme, marks a significant step in aligning the global music business with measures already being taken through an industry-co-ordinated strategy. This collaborative approach is enabling existing and new climate initiatives to be developed and will foster conditions for continued collective actions in reducing the industry’s climate impact.

The Signatories, with the encouragement and backing of the industry and climate champion Supporters, have committed to objectives aimed at both improving data and understanding how their operations impact the environment, and, working with partners, developing solutions to reduce this. See Notes.

Working Groups

To deliver against its core goal and supporting objectives, the MCP has been working in three areas considered key by setting up working groups drawn from the Signatories and Supporters: Digital Consumption, Vinyl Production, and Climate Training.  These groups have worked with the support and input of institutions and organisations that have expertise in the relevant fields.

1. Digital Working Group (DWG)

The Digital Working Group (DWG) has studied the sector to identify areas where the industry can innovate and share best practices, improve processes, and tackle waste to reduce carbon impact and energy use. The DWG has liaised with the Music Industry Climate Collective (MICC), Digital Streaming Platforms (DSPs), and with experts to develop new industry recommendations that inject sustainability decision-making into digital distribution.

This work has led to the creation of a new guide for record labels, Practical Suggestions for Record Labels: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Digital Music Releases to help them identify where they can innovate, improve processes and eliminate inefficiencies to reduce carbon impact and energy use.

Caroline Hansen, Co-Chair Digital Working Group, and Head of Operations at Warp Records. said:

“Streaming now accounts for the vast majority of the world’s music consumption, and the significant environmental impact of this must be brought to the forefront of our conversations as an industry. In physical music formats, whose production and distribution processes are arguably more complex, we've made significant progress in developing a carbon measurement methodology and have a clear understanding of our emissions. However, the digital side still doesn’t have visibility of the full extent of the impact on our environment. We are keen to work with our DSP and music distributor partners to better understand this and determine how we can act together to reduce emissions and environmental impacts.”

Additionally, the DWG plans to issue streaming top 10 tips guidance to fans to suggest ways they can reduce the impact of their consumption on the environment, without lessening their enjoyment of the music experience.   

2. Vinyl Working Group (VWG)

Alongside the work of the DWG, a separate Vinyl Working Group (VWG) has collaborated with the Vinyl Alliance. This is the first time that the entire vinyl value chain has worked together in this way, and the effort is providing a shared factual foundation for future decision‑making.

The VWG focused on a two-phase Sustainable Supplier Programme developed jointly with the Vinyl Alliance and with Climate Partner to address the environmental impact of vinyl manufacturing. This establishes a consistent method for measuring product-level emissions to improve Scope 3 reporting for record labels and identify practical pathways for reducing carbon emissions across the vinyl supply chain.

This project found that record manufacturing now creates significantly fewer emissions overall than previously thought, and there are some relatively easy ways to reduce them further, though this doesn’t negate that there is still further work to be done.

Phase 1 developed Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) for LP records. It found that a typical 140g traditionally pressed PVC record, manufactured in the UK, Europe or the US has an average carbon footprint of 0.93 kg CO₂e per unit (cradle to gate).

The study also examined alternative manufacturing techniques and materials. Injection-moulded PET records, for example, demonstrated lower emissions, averaging 0.54 kg CO₂e per record and dropping to 0.38 kg CO₂e per record when using recycled PET. This is largely due to the process being electric and requiring around 85% less energy than traditional pressing methods. Switching facilities to renewable electricity could be another opportunity to reduce emissions. For traditional pressing, this could lower them by around 12%. Raw materials also play a role in cutting emissions: analysis found recycled PVC could cut emissions by 16%, while recycled PET could reduce them by 30%.

Phase 2 included industry collaboration to create a transition pathway across the supply chain. This collaboration included manufacturers, labels and supply-chain partners. Progress toward sustainable production will occur through sequenced transition: In the short term via operational efficiency improvements and increased renewable electricity procurement, in the medium, greater adoption of recycled materials and targeted infrastructure upgrades, and in the long term, electrification of systems and development of circular material flows. With further opportunities for more emissions reductions.

Next steps point to potential solutions that include collective renewable energy purchasing, shared investment in manufacturing improvements and the development of common industry standards for emissions reporting and recycled content. To support this transition, the Vinyl Alliance is establishing a dedicated role to coordinate further collaboration between Pact Signatories, manufacturers and suppliers.

Co-Chairs of the VWG, Ian Stanton of Beggars Group, and John Service of Key Production, jointly said:

"Through the combined efforts of the Vinyl Working Group, the Vinyl Alliance, and Climate Partner and thanks to the improved data and visibility we now have, we know there is a breadth of steps we can collectively take to reduce the impact vinyl manufacturing has on our environment, without undermining the music experience we all value. To achieve this meaningful change requires collaboration and knowledge-sharing across the entire value chain, and we’ve seen a strong appetite across the sector to move in this direction. Artists and fans increasingly expect sustainable choices, and this work gives us the tools and partnerships needed to meet those expectations together.”

3. Climate Training Working Group

The MCP recognises that a climate-literate workforce is key to our industry being able to deliver on its commitments to decarbonise and to draw on our artists’ followings as leverage for driving positive change. 

The MCP is in the process of developing specialist training for all record label staff, beginning with those who can create the most positive climate impact, and/or whose departments are responsible for the highest carbon emissions. This training will be rolled out first to physical production and distribution, communication/marketing, and artist support departments within Signatories. From there, the intention is to expand in geographic and label reach while also covering departments such as Finance, Legal, HR, Licensing, and Transformation Management/C-Suites. Training will be free at the point of use for label staff and will create an industry which is informed and empowered to play its part in ending the climate crisis.

Co-Chair of this Group, RJ Frankenberry, with responsibility for Sustainability at UMG, said:

“The Pact’s Signatories and Supporters are committed to unlocking and delivering meaningful change that will see the music community operate ever-more sustainably.

A fundamental element of this has to be the industry’s workforce having the knowledge they need to make informed decisions that build climate impact and best practice swiftly into their thinking and actions. We are excited to create the funding mechanism that will enable us to take this important work forward.” 

Communicating to the industry and fans

Stories Of Action

The Pact has released a new webpage which it will update with case studies from its Signatories and Supporters, charting their successes and challenges of delivering on their Pact Commitments.

To start this work, the MCP commissioned Julie’s Bicycle to survey its label Signatories on how they are delivering against their commitments. Its report, State of the Pact 2025, delivered at the beginning of this Pact year, identified key areas of action in the years since starting the Pact:

• 75% of Signatories are measuring some or all of their emissions in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol annually – and all the remaining Signatories have undertaken a baseline carbon audit.
• 12 out of 13 Signatories have created internal projects, initiatives or work streams that actively work to decrease the emissions created by their business.
•  57% of Signatories reporting GHG emissions data have achieved absolute Scope 1 & 2 emissions reductions, and two-thirds have a target that has been validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative or have joined the Race to Zero programme.
•  All Signatories have worked with other labels, businesses, or organisations to establish shared carbon measurement methodologies, tools and frameworks backed by climate science for the recorded music industry.
•  75% of Signatories are working in partnership with different parts of their supply chain to drive collaborative emissions reduction projects.
• 64% have taken action to support artists in speaking up on climate issues, while 4 in 5 Signatories have taken steps to communicate with fans about the impacts of the music industry. 

The State of the Pact also highlighted positive Stories of Action undertaken by the Signatories across the Pact’s core Commitments. Full details can be found on the MCP website here.

The Music Climate Pact wishes to thank its Signatories and Supporters for their valued contributions and support, and in particular Murmur, who help to enable this important work through their funding and encouragement.