When the Australian band Cloud Control was about to go on two-week tour after releasing its third album in 2017, the band’s keyboard player Heidi Lenffer asked climate scientists to find out how much emissions they would produce. The result?
Around 28 tonnes of emissions—roughly equivalent to what an average household produces in a year. And that was just the national leg of an album tour that would take the band to the US three times. Cloud Control contemplated offsetting their emissions but decided instead to aim higher. That’s why Cloud Control partnered with the superannuation fund Future Super, and the developer Impact Investment Group to establish FEAT. (Future Energy Artists): a platform that officially launches on Wednesday and will allow musicians to build and invest in their own solar farms.
How it works is money that artists invest in FEAT. is put into a portfolio which is managed by Future Super, and can be used to buy ownership stakes in solar farms or loaned to build their infrastructure. And artists can put forward as much as they can afford. Perhaps they want to throw in a one-off lump sum, or offer a percentage of their touring income; the idea is that everyone should be able to invest in their financial and environmental future – which is why FEAT. set a floor price of just $5 to set up an account.
Early signs are promising. As well as Cloud Control, other Australian bands already signed up include Midnight Oil, Vance Joy, Regurgitator, Big Scary, Peking Duk and Jack River. Considering that touring artists have some of the biggest individual carbon footprints, it’s awesome to see artists band together to clean up their act.
