Christopher BarrettCelebrated promoter Harvey Goldsmith CBE has partnered with UMA Entertainment to launch Earth Aid Live – a series of stadium concerts planned over one weekend in six countries with the aim of raising money to fight climate change and empower young people to make a positive difference. He tells Access All Areas about the plans for the project.
Earth Aid Live will take place in cities including London, Los Angeles and Rio de Janeiro over one weekend in August 2025, along with shows in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The plan is to stage similar events in 2030 and 2035, and while the aim is to make the physical shows net carbon zero, Earth Aid Live will also incorporate digital activity including performances in the metaverse.
Goldsmith tells Access that a London stadium should be confirmed in the next week or so, and while no acts have yet been announced there has been a huge amount of interest from artists enthusiastic to get involved.
The veteran promoter is well versed on working on charitable live events having produced numerous shows for the likes of Prince’s Trust and Teenage Cancer Trust, but he is best known for co-producing Live Aid in 1985 and Live8 in 2005. He also worked on the Live Earth concert in 2007.
He says, “We wanted to get the announcement out because there’s a lot of people talking about it, UMA has been working on this for some considerable time, and I am mentoring them. UMA is a group of young people who really want to make a difference so I’m helping them through it.”
Goldsmith says that while the aim of the concerts is to raise money for organisations battling against climate change, they will also work to raise awareness about the launch of an app branded Hero, designed to help people make more sustainable choices.
“The whole basis of what UMA is trying to do is to create an environment where people can do things for themselves rather than having governments bang them over the head and tell them what to do. The app will provide tools and information to help guide people to be more sustainable and help others to do the same.
“This is about encouraging young people to take part and do something about their future.”
“When we did the original Live Earth concert it was too early, the scientists were all fighting with each other, now there’s much more of a consensus that something needs to be done and it needs to be done quick. The point is that people themselves are going to need to make the effort. They’ll make the effort if they feel good about it, and if they can do it easily, and if they feel that they’re getting a reward or some gratification because they’re helping themselves to help others. This is about encouraging young people to take part and do something about their future.”
Goldsmith says Earth Aid Live’s organisers are very conscious of the environmental impact of concerts and will be working with live event environmental groups to minimise the shows’ carbon footprint. He says part of the reason for having the concerts take place across the planet is to enable artists to get involved by playing at a relatively local venue and minimise travel.
“We are very, very conscious of sticking our heads above the parapet to say we want to do something for the environment, then watch everybody jet in on their private planes and all the usual things. We’re very conscious of that and want to make the events as environmentally friendly as we possibly can. So we will look to work with some of the agencies and use the best available technology because the last thing we want to do is be hypocritical.”
Harvey Goldsmith is the subject of the next AAA Backstage Podcast, which will go live next week.