Billie Eilish reaffirmed her commitment to giving away more than £10 million from her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour to environmental causes and exhorted billionaires to “give away your money.”
Grammy-winning artist Billie Eilish is no stranger to philanthropy and donating to charitable causes.
The Birds of a Feather singer announced on October 29 that she would be donating $11.5 million (£10 million) of her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour to climate causes as she accepted the Music Innovator Award at the Wall Street Journal Magazine Innovator Awards in New York City.
The money will go to The Changemaker Programme, an initiative to support organisations and projects to food equity, climate justice and reducing carbon pollution.
She also made fun of the room’s billionaires by apologizing for their misfortune as she accepted her award on the stage. She said, “I would advise using your money for good causes and perhaps donating it to some people who need it.”
She continued, “If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?” and continued, “No hate, but no, shorties, give your money away.”
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She urged people to be empathetic and said: “We’re in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark and people need empathy and help more than kind of ever, especially in our country,”
The singer recently donated money to a Howard County, Maryland, USA youth climate leadership program. She made a $11,000 (£8. 400) donation to the Youth Climate Institute (YCI) at the Howard County Conservancy.
The YCI Executive Director stated that Billy Ellish’s commitment to promoting youth voices and climate change “always goes against our objectives.” Our student ambassadors are thrilled to have Billie, who uses her platform for sustainability and climate justice, recognize their efforts.
More than 700 students and 50 active chapters are members of the high school program, which was established in 2020. They combine climate change education with practical application to encourage green jobs, combat the climate crisis, and inspire students to become effective environmental ambassadors.
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A YCI Certified Ambassador with Honors, Sarah KC, stated, “Billie Eilish supports our work is incredibly meaningful, she’s an icon for our generation, and her recognition shows young climate activists that we’re not alone in this fight,” and added, “It gives me hope that together we can create the change our planet needs.”
Billie Eilish has also used social media to raise awareness about the climate and went vegan in 2014.
The climate crisis was the subject of her 2019 song, All The Good Girls To Hell. She put the video’s subtitle: “As of right now, millions of people around the world are pleading with our leaders to take notice. Our planet is warming up at a rate unprecedented, and our forests are burning, icecaps are melting, oceans are rising, and wildlife is being poisoned.
She also shared in 2019 a viral video on the threat of the climate crisis saying: ““We cannot let this happen on our watch”.
The artist has opted for plastic-free concerts. For her 2020 world tour, she teamed up with a non-profit that helps musicians with sustainability, Reverb. She banned plastic straws, and fans were asked to bring their own water bottles and everything else was recycled.
She also created a video with scientists ahead of the 2021 climate summit and called out on world leaders saying: “We must stand together and speak up to save our planet, not just for us but for our future generations.”
This donation adds to the singer’s long and impressive list, and she has consistently fought against climate change.
