OUR STORY
The ClimateMusic Project and Music Declares Emergency created Be Cool!, a Campaign to harness the energy of young people from around the world to push for accelerated climate action before it’s too late.
The Campaign vehicle is a song, I Wanna Be Cool!, by Will Kimbrough and Brant Miller. It’s an upbeat call to action that contains the line: “can’t you hear your kids starting to shout!” The Campaign takes this line literally, recruiting young people everywhere to record themselves singing/shouting that message in unison on a master recording + video. At the same time, they will be learning about climate change and mobilizing action among their peers, their families, their communities and the song’s audiences.
OUR PROGRESS
The Be Cool! Campaign was launched during NY Climate Week 2024. Music Declares Emergency US and The ClimateMusic Project premiered the music video for the song “I Wanna Be Cool.” It’s an Americana meets The Beatles pop anthem and potentially a ‘We Are The World,’ for the climate. We recruited more than 2,500 young people across the world to sing the chorus & 10 award winning vocalists sing on the verses. An Emmy award winning Hollywood design studio created the music video. We built a partner network focusing actions in 3 areas, inspiring civic engagement, guiding communities for the reduction of emissions and climate education.
The most exciting accomplishment from our campaign is from our work in Nigeria. More than 1,000 of the kids who sang on the video are from Nigeria. We learned that many of the rural schools have no electricity. So, we decided to launch an effort to provide solar installations to provide lights, fans and computer access. We are thrilled that following a GoFundMe and outreach to family and friends to raise $4000, we are now about to install our first solar system in a school in Nigeria, The Wisdom Academy in the Warri Delta. Read about our progress on the project HERE.
READ MORE accomplishments from the Be Cool! Campaign
- Views: there have been more than 136,000 views of the video on YouTube. It has also been shown at a number of different events, conferences, classrooms, etc.
- One example, the Campaign was invited to be a part of the 2025 EarthX Summit in Dallas. Pete and Brant represented the team, and it was a big success: The organizers featured the music video throughout their programming, including its international TV distributor through DirectTV, Amazon and other networks. The EarthX team has started filming a short documentary about the Campaign to accompany the music video that would air on EarthXtra, as well as their social platforms. EarthXtra is a global for-profit TV network dedicated to promoting the environment and sustainability which reaches an audience of over 60 million homes globally available on major cable providers and streaming services. EarthX Media will distribute the finished documentary on EarthXtra FAST channels (Amazon FireTV, Philo, Plex, Vizio).
- COP29: The video was also screened every day by the climate media outlet, We Don’t Have Time at their COP29 broadcast.
- Cover versions: We just wrapped up our first song contest (Be Cool, Play Cool), inviting individuals and groups to create cover versions of I Wanna Be Cool. We think that getting others to create versions of the song will help us to reach new, broad-based audiences. We are now starting to reach out to singers/bands that have a social media following to record and post cover versions, to the extent resources allow.
- Collaborations: We are working on a number of collaborations with organizations that share our mission. For example, the Campaign joined the UN youth group YOUNGO (The Constituency of Children and Youth at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).
- As a result of the Campaign, the Association for Nature-Based Education (ANBE) created the Advocacy and Action for “Climate Reliant Kids. Inspiring Environments, Taking Positive Action” professional development for teachers, which was their first climate program.
ARTISTS / ORGANIZATIONS
Will Kimbrough
artist
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Will Kimbrough’s songs have been recorded by Jimmy Buffett, Little Feat, Todd Snider, Jack Ingram, Gretchen Peters and many others. His production credits include Buffett, Doug Seegers, Todd Snider, Radney Foster and Steve Poltz. Will is a prolific writer and recording artist, a member of Willie Sugarcapps, DADDY and Emmylou Harris’ Red Dirt Boys.
Brant Miller
artist
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Brant Miller‘s 2020 release, “Roots, Rhymes & Branches,” included his timely song, “Where Now America?,” which reached #12 on the FAI Folk Chart. Brant is an eight-time winner/finalist in the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest, and a finalist in the 2021 RAWA “Songs for Social Change” contest and 2022 International Acoustic Music Awards. His songs have been recorded by artists in the U.S. and Europe.
Music Declares Emergency
organization
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Music Declares Emergency is a group of artists, music industry professionals and organisations that stand together to declare a climate and ecological emergency and call for an immediate governmental response to protect all life on Earth. “We believe in the power of music to promote the cultural change needed to create a better future.”
The ClimateMusic Project
organization
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The ClimateMusic Project connects people to climate science and action through the emotional power of music, bringing together renowned scientists and world-class musicians to create music and visual experiences guided or informed by climate science. We create music in a variety of genres to build understanding and to facilitate action across diverse communities.
Award-nominated other notable guest vocalists lending their voice for Be Cool! song
