Coldplay’s Commitment to Eco-Friendly Tour: Green Action or Capitalism in Disguise?
Written by : Muhammad Raafi
British rock band Coldplay announced they would embark on their eighth Music of The Spheres World Tour on October 14, 2021, and marked their return to the performing stage following the COVID-19 pandemic. The band had yet to tour for their previous record, Everyday Life (2019), placing concerts on hold until they could figure out how to ensure it would be ecologically friendly. According to a two-year strategy they developed, emissions will be reduced by 50% compared to A Head Full of Dreams Tour (2016 — 17) (BBC, 2019). However, this announcement raises a diverse contention: Will Coldplay’s tour be a concrete commitment to green action or just a capitalization of environmental issues like other prominent players’ rhetoric?
Although music festivals may be the lifeblood of the music industry, an irreversible amount of environmental damage is still becoming a recurring issue that music actors have been addressing globally. According to the Greener Festival report, which analyzed data from events held in 17 countries, the average music festival produces 500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. It also generates 5kg of CO2 daily from the festival-goer (Galer, 2022). In anticipation of more severe consequences, the Music Climate Pact was formed in 2021 as a response to COP26 and the urgent call for collective action to combat the climate crisis, setting out a series of high-level commitments that would become an assertion of intent for the global music sector. The pact brings together crucial actors (the independent music community, major music groups, and others) to pledge net-zero emissions by 2050 and achieve a 50% reduction by 2030 (AIM, 2022). In parallel, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) which comprises standards bodies from more than 160 countries, provides a holistic approach called Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to assess the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with raw-material production, manufacture, distribution, use, and disposal including all intervening transportation steps necessary or caused by an event, such as music festival (Toniolo et al., 2017)
As a band under the Universal Music Publishing Group, which signed the Music Climate Pact, Coldplay is responsible for shifting its music concerts to a more sustainable way. Coldplay’s efforts are based on three fundamental principles: (i) Reduce, as in reduce tour consumption, recycle extensively, and cut tour carbon emissions by 50 percent; (ii) Reinvent, including endowing new green technologies and super-low carbon touring methods; lastly, (iii) Restore, which produces the tour as environmentally beneficial by funding nature- and technology-based sustainability projects. Some of the 12-point initiatives they prompted now include kinetic dance floors and stationary bikes that divert energy from the audience into batteries, powering various concert setup components. Furthermore, the light-up wristbands worn by audiences will be constructed of biodegradable materials that reduce manufacturing by 80% (Coldplay, 2022). As for Coldplay and its crew’s emissions, the band will mostly fly commercial and pay a surcharge to use Sustainable Aviation Fuel and Electric Vehicles for ground transportation whenever possible. They will also eat mostly plant-based meals produced locally, avoiding high-carbon items like meat and dairy. These efforts will assist in lessening the carbon footprint of their tour because waste are all substantial contributors to climate change, accounting for up to 20% of a person’s carbon footprint (Galer, 2022)
While Coldplay’s initiative is deemed an advancement in the sustainable music industry, criticisms from environmentalists continue to emerge by noting their inconsistency on sustainable matters (Harris, 2021). Many argue that if the robust LCA is applied, the plethora of 2050 net-zero statements will only be an unattainable wish since, if calculated, the resulting accumulated carbon footprint remains undiminished (Webb, 2021). Moreover, Coldplay’s ‘renewable & super low-emission energy’ pledge is a step forward that needs to be embraced in the sphere of music industry, but committing to the earth’s sustainability is far more essential. Still, the practices and implications ahead remain to be seen.
References
Baker, B. (2019, November 2). How Music Festivals are Destroying the Earth. EDM. https://edm.com/opinion/environmental-impact-festivals
BBC. (2019, November 21). Coldplay to pause touring until concerts are “environmentally beneficial.” BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50490700
Coldplay. (2022). Music of the Spheres World Tour: Sustainability. Music of the Spheres World Tour: Sustainability. https://sustainability.coldplay.com/
Galer, S. (2022). SAP BrandVoice: How Music Festival Organizers Can Clean Up Their Act For Sustainable Fun. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2022/07/28/how-music-festival-organizers-can-clean-up-their-act-for-sustainable-fun/?sh=5003565e3042
Harris, R. (2021). The Consistent (and Pecksniffian) Rhetoric on Climate Action We Hear from Rock Stars and Industry Leaders. Linkedin. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/consistent-pecksniffian-rhetoric-climate-action-we-hear-harris/?trk=articles_directory
Toniolo, S., Mazzi, A., Fedele, A., Aguiari, F., & Scipioni, A. (2017). Life Cycle Assessment to Support the Quantification of the Environmental Impacts of an Event. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 63, 12 — 22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2016.07.007
UK’s Association of Independent Music (AIM). (2022). The Pact. Music Climate Pact. https://www.musicclimatepact.com/the-pact
