Bob Geldof is standing his ground on “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”

As the Irish musician and activist, 73, prepares to release a 40th-anniversary edition of the holiday charity song — and faces criticism from Ed Sheeran — he is not only defending the track’s legacy but also revealing that he has no plans of stopping his charity work.

Last week, Sheeran, 33, claimed on social media that Band Aid didn’t ask for his permission to use his vocals (he appeared on the 2014 version of the track) on the new mix, and said that given the choice, he “would have respectfully declined the use” of them.

Explaining this decision, Sheeran said that in the past decade his “understanding of the narrative associated with this has changed.” He also cosigned a statement from Ghanian-English afrobeats musician Fuse ODG, who said he declined to participate in Band Aid’s 2014 rendition because he “recognised the harm initiatives like it inflict on Africa.”

In response, Geldof told The Sunday Times that despite criticisms aimed at the song — which he co-wrote with Midge Ure in 1984 to raise awareness and funds for a famine in Ethiopia — its real-world impact takes precedence over what he called an “abstract wealthy-world argument.”

“This little pop song has kept millions of people alive,” he told the U.K. outlet. “Why would Band Aid scrap feeding thousands of children dependent on us for a meal?”

After explaining the work the Band Aid Charitable Trust does — it has raised more than £140 million ($176 million) for efforts ranging from healthcare to education — Geldof continued, “Why not keep doing that? Because of an abstract wealthy-world argument, regardless of its legitimacy?”

“No abstract theory regardless of how sincerely held should impede or distract from that hideous, concrete real-world reality,” he told The Sunday Times. “There are 600 million hungry people in the world — 300 million are in Africa. We wish it were other, but it is not. We can help some of them. That’s what we will continue to do.”

Geldof also said that in today’s “fractious” world, “people have lost any ability to control events,” but when it comes to Band Aid’s work, “you have agency.”

“And I can guarantee your personal action here will result in a kid sleeping warmer, fed that night. This is one issue in which you have power,” he told the outlet. “You get to tilt the world a fraction — and I know: ‘Here is f—— Geldof banging on.’ But the instrument of this control, as corny as it may sound, is this thing — this OK tune.”

Co-writer Ure, 71, also spoke to The Sunday Times, and admitted that the track is “not a great song” — but echoed Geldof’s message for their critics.

“There are many keyboard warriors out there, and in the time it takes them to write a scathing remark some child has died. They talk while we actually do something,” Ure said. “All those stars turned up on that Sunday morning with hangovers, but were there for a reason. Although it’s also possible that they were just scared of Bob.”

The new version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” is set to feature vocals from the 1984, 1989, 2004 and 2014 recordings, according to Billboard. It will include renditions from Bono, Harry Styles (with One Direction), George Michael and more.

It is unclear whether Sheeran will be featured on the final version. Following the “Bad Habits’ singer’s statement last week, a representative from Band Aid told PEOPLE that “Ed did not ask to be removed from the record” and “Bob [Geldof] has since also put a call into Ed to speak directly.”