Coldplay - Music of the Spheres World Tour
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SUSTAiNABILiTY
When we first announced the Music Of The Spheres Tour in 2021, we pledged to reduce our direct carbon emissions (from show production, freight, band and crew travel) by at least 50%.
We’re happy to report that direct CO2e emissions from the first two years of this tour are 59% less than our previous stadium tour (2016-17), on a show-by-show comparison. These figures have been verified by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative.
We’d like to say a huge thankyou to our incredible touring family and to all the brilliant people who’ve made this possible.
Most of all, we’d like to thank everyone who’s come to a show and helped charge the show batteries on the power bikes and kinetic dance floors; everyone who’s arrived by foot, bike, ride share or public transport; everyone who’s come with refillable water bottles or returned their LED wristband for recycling; and everyone who’s bought a ticket, which means you’ve planted one of 7 million trees so far.
As a band, and as an industry, we’re a long way from where we need to be on this. But we’re grateful for everyone’s help so far, and we salute everyone who’s making efforts to push things in the right direction.
With love
Coldplay
All our data and environmental impact assessments from both the A Head Full Of Dreams Tour (2016/2017) and the first two years of the Music Of The Spheres Tour have been independently collated and undertaken by our long term sustainability partners Hope Solutions.
The assessments and reports are shared with the team and leadership at the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative for annual audit and verification. They have once again independently validated and quality-assured the data as well as the calculation methodologies, assumptions and rationale for the tour vs tour comparison.
"For some time now, Coldplay has been leading by example in taking seriously and acting on the various interrelated environmental and social challenges facing humanity; climate change, biodiversity loss, air and water pollution, environmental injustice and more.
With each subsequent year of their tour they demonstrate an evolving vision and expanded commitment to move the entire music industry toward true and humane sustainability and planetary resilience. From collecting unprecedented amounts of data to taking specific actions today based on rigorous analysis, Coldplay is modelling a trajectory toward a low carbon, biodiverse and equitable future.
I, Prof. John E. Fernández of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have reviewed their latest efforts and endorse and congratulate Coldplay in their dedication to positive and meaningful actions and Hope Solutions in their comprehensive and meticulous analysis and recommendations.
This latest analysis of Coldplay’s impact on the environment from touring is again setting a new standard for the entire music industry. The data and the methods of analysis support the conclusion that substantial progress has been made to reduce emissions in touring."
Our figures are based on actual emissions reductions and do not factor in any carbon offsetting or carbon credits.
As yet, there is no industry standard for sustainable touring or centrally-mandated methodology for emissions reporting in this sector. This is something that we will continue to promote and try to establish. We have made all efforts to align ourselves with the principles of recognised standards such as the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and follow best practices and guidance.
We are also working closely with Hope Solutions, MIT, Live Nation and Warner Music Group to study the impacts of live music and create some carbon footprint baselines for different types of tours.
All of the tour’s sustainability efforts have been overseen by a Chartered Environmentalist and Fellow of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment at Hope Solutions with support from Live Nation’s Green Nation team.
As the tour’s Official Logistics Partner, DHL have been instrumental in minimising emissions from freight and transportation and will continue to offer solutions to minimise logistics-related emissions: from packing efficiency, to advanced biofuels on sea and air, to electric vehicles on land.
DHL’s GoGreen team supported us with our freight impact assessment, taking all the data from our freight forwarder and plugging it into the EcoTransIT freight emissions calculation tools. The methodology and assessment is consistent with leading industry guidelines including EN16258 and the Global Logistics Emission Council’s (GLEC) framework.
We have not included fan travel to and from the venue in our direct emission figures.
However, the data gathered by our tour app, developed in partnership with SAP, suggests a higher proportion of fans travelling by public transport and a significant reduction in indirect emissions compared to previous tours.
· ⅓ of audience members use public transport
· Average carbon footprint per traveller is 48% lower than the previous tour
· 4% of fans travel via zero carbon transport – on foot or by bike
We are grateful to all local transport authorities and solutions providers who have provided free or low cost public transport to our shows.
proudly supported by the Music Of The Spheres world tour:
