Theatre Royal, Glasgow

Today the climate action organization, Pathway to Paris, has announced a concert event taking place on October 31st, 2021 at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow. Helping to open the United Nations Climate Change Conference (Cop26), Oct 31st – Nov 12th, the concert will focus on the urgent need for nations to ramp up their efforts and take ambition to the next level in order to meet and go beyond the climate targets outlined in the Paris Agreement, and for cities to take responsibility and lead the way forward in achieving this goal. 

Bringing together musicians, artists, thinkers, and policymakers, this concert will serve as an international call to action. It will be open to attend in person via Glasgow and also be live streamed to a global audience. 

Pathway to Paris was founded in 2014, and it’s first year of concerts culminated with two nights of music and action in Paris during Cop21, December 2015, coinciding with the adoption of the Paris Agreement. Continuing forward in 2017 at the United Nations Secretariat, Pathway to Paris announced their 1000 Cities initiative for Carbon Freedom, their solution plan for combating the global climate crisis. The 1000 Cities Initiative invites all cities of the world to transition off fossil fuels and move to 100% renewable energy as soon as possible, in order to turn the Paris Agreement into reality.

“In the world of music, the best way to improve is through collaboration. This is the same with the critical issue of climate change. We must join together to make this the most ambitious collaboration of our century. We will not be able to implement crucial and challenging solutions to climate change, and all urgent environmental problems as long as we stand divided. Inseparable from the issue of climate change is the need for world peace, global communication, and an international collaboration unmatched by any event in human history.”– Co-Founder of Pathway to Paris, Jesse Paris Smith

“These meetings mark a critical moment in history, as we collectively need to come together to massively ramp up our targets and actions. Cities play a critical role in transforming our world out of the era of fossil fuels and into a renewable world. This is our time to make this shift and transform our nations and cities to become sustainable and resilient for us all and future generations. This is our chance as our window of time is drastically narrowing.” – Co-Founder of Pathway to Paris, Rebecca Foon

The concert will feature Patti Smith, Tenzin Choegyal, Soundwalk Collective in collaboration with Patti Smith and Jesse Paris Smith to perform CRISIS OF THE LOST, a sound piece composed of underwater recordings deriving from the TBA21–Academy sound archive that documents the voice of ocean life in contrast with the destructive impact of manmade acoustic pollution over all species of marine life. The live performance is accompanied by visualizations by Territorial Agency to provide visceral insights into the scale and mechanics of the ecological threat that is sound pollution in the ocean. The piece features additional recordings carried out by sound artist Jana Winderen during field trips in Belize, Panama, Dominican Republic, Norway and Iceland; as well as recorded detonations of the seismic airgun blasting acquired from Simone Baumann Pickering’s lab at Scripps Institute for Oceanography, and cello written and performed by Lucy Railton.

CRISIS OF THE LOST is part of a collaborative body of work and series of album projects between Patti Smith and Soundwalk Collective, entitled CORRESPONDENCES, due for publication and release in Spring 2022.

Pathway to Paris Founders Jesse Paris Smith and Rebecca Foon will also be performing throughout the evening. Speakers include 350.org’s Bill McKibben and other special guests to be announced soon.

All proceeds from this evening will be donated to the 1000 Cities Initiative for Carbon Freedom by Pathway to Paris.