Christopher BarrettColdplay has announced an overall 59% reduction in direct CO2 emissions compared to the band’s previous tour (2016-17), on a show-by-show basis, across 2022 and 2023.
When Coldplay announced their Music Of The Spheres World Tour in 2021, they promised to reduce consumption, recycle extensively and cut CO2 emissions by 50% compared to the band’s A Head Full of Dreams Tour in 2016.
During the tour last year, 18 shows were powered entirely using the tourable battery system made from recyclable BMW i3 batteries by Showpower Global B.V. An average of 17kWh of power per show was generated via in-venue solar installations, kinetic dance floors from Energy Floors and power bikes from SMART Power UK – enough to power the band’s C-stage performance each night.
More than 3,000 tCO2e was saved by purchasing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for flights, and 23 partnerships with green travel providers were forged in order to help fans travel to shows via super-low carbon transport.
Other key statistics include the tour seeing an 86% average return and re-use rate of PixMob LED wristbands, while 100% of shows had free water refill stations for fans, and 72% of all tour waste was diverted from landfill and sent for reuse, recycling and composting.
The band reported that the initiative has resulted in the funding of seen seven million trees being planted, supported to maturity via One Tree Planted, one for each concert goer. It has also seen approximately 10,000 hectares of land restored across 24 countries, 48 planting projects, and two solar-powered The Ocean Cleanup River Interceptors deployed.
Hope Solutions, one of the key sustainability partners in the project alongside Live Nation’s Green Nation, said, “Working on this with all the stakeholders involved is a constant highlight and we can’t thank the Coldplay team enough for having us involved and for their dedication and enthusiasm for getting to this point, as well as continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible.”
The full emissions update is available here.
Read an interview with Hope Solution’s founder Luke Howell here.