Sundown Festival Leads Music Climate Action Pledge

In a trailblazing move for the live music industry in the region, Singapore signed off on the Music Climate Action Pledge's first launch — Southeast Asia's first industry-led pledge towards sustainability for live music in today's time. Launched at the Skechers Sundown Festival, the pledge is an initiative between the homegrown festival and the Bye Bye Plastic Foundation, the global movement founded by DJ and eco-warrior BLOND:ISH. The initiative has sought to eliminate single-use plastics from live music events and create a climate responsibility culture in the music and entertainment sector.

This leadership pledge calls on festivals, promoters, venues, agents, and artists in Southeast Asia to join together and remove plastic straws, cups, and water bottles from their businesses. The commitment is to remove at least two of these major single-use items in 12 months. With the removal of one of the biggest sources of event waste, the pledge wants to establish a new benchmark for sustainability in the music industry throughout the region.

The Music Climate Action Pledge was officially launched at the Music Climate Action Summit that was held as part of the Sundown Festival. The summit gathered local and global climate and music leaders, including delegates representing the United Nations Entertainment & Culture for Climate Action, Believe (online music platform), Music Declares Emergency, Singapore Environment Council, Resorts World Sentosa, among others. The occasion served as far more than merely a platform to make the pledge announcement since it served as a call for the industry overall to take responsibility for its environmental footprint.

In a speech during the summit, Stephanie Dickson, founder of The Wedge Asia and Music Climate Action Summit organizer, spoke about the potential of music to make change. "Music unites us, and collective action is the solution. We want to believe the world is our dancefloor, and there can be no music on a dead planet," she challenged the industry to make changes and shifts in leadership regarding sustainability.

Bye Bye Plastic Foundation co-founder Camille Guitteau stressed the importance of extending their movement to Asia. "I am grateful to have us open an impact chapter in Singapore with Sundown & The Wedge. Having awakened Bali in 2020, Singapore's thriving live music event culture is a natural and powerful next step for the foundation," she further added.

Ten trailblazing businesses have signed up for the first cohort of the Music Climate Action Pledge. They are Sundown Festival, Groove Top, Ice Cream Sundays, Music Matters Live, Resorts World Sentosa, Sivilian Affairs, Somewhere Out There by Fabrik, Soul Collective, Tanjong Beach Club, and Wild Pearl. Local partners like Scratch First/Wonderfruit and Believe are also on board to help extend the initiative's reach across Asia's creative sectors.

The pledge not only requires phasing out certain plastic products but also lays the ground for collaborative enforcement. Signatories will gather quarterly to learn from one another, gain operational advice, and have the opportunity to connect with a network of vetted providers of sustainable alternatives. Tracking and highlighting progress will be done collectively at the Music Climate Action Summit in 2026.

The Bye Bye Plastic Foundation adds global-level heritage to this national campaign. Founded by DJ BLOND:ISH, the foundation has already rallied more than 1,500 artists and more than 100 clubs worldwide with projects like the Eco-Rider, Clean The Beat, and the #BringYourOwnBottle campaign. Combined, these events have removed more than 13 tonnes of single-use plastic from circulation. Their worldwide campaign, #PlasticFreeParty, provides festivals and venues with a step-by-step structured path to move towards sustainable practices through tried and practical steps.

The Music Climate Action Summit also included a symbolic on-stage signing of the pledge by the signatories, a sign of collective industry commitment to sustainability. This public visibility enhances the validity and seriousness of the movement, demonstrating that climate action in music is not only needed but attainable.

In the coming year, Music Climate Action Pledge will be engaging in building its community within Singapore and worldwide. Its partner organizations will be accompanied with instrumental toolkits, peer-to-peer learning workshops, and action plans. Its yearly impact report will record and tell their stories, their combined successes at the 2026 Summit. Organizers also seek to involve the government agencies and private sector stakeholders in constructing reusables' infrastructures within Singapore's nightlife and live events industry.

For companies that want to be part of this sustainable movement, further details can be found on the Sundown Festival Music Climate Action Summit and Bye Bye Plastic Foundation websites. By taking this significant step towards green practices with the music industry in Southeast Asia, the Music Climate Action Pledge is an appeal to mass effort, innovative leadership, and the conviction that a healthy planet is the foundation for a flourishing music industry future.