Music of the Spheres tour: Coldplay’s extensive efforts to reduce carbon footprint explained in detail
Global music sensation Coldplay has millions of fans across the globe not just for its chart-topping hits but also its commitment to minimise its carbon footprint during the ongoing ‘Music of the Spheres’ tour, scheduled to continue till November 16, 2024.
The group’s sustainable practices have drawn attention and applause from fans and environmentalists alike. LinkedIn user Siddhant More, founder of Mad Over Marketing, recently highlighted the band’s initiative in a post, that has already gathered over 60,000 reactions.
One netizen recalled lyrics from the song ‘Fix You’, commenting “So they’re trying to fix you (Earth).” The second one said: “They want to keep the planet from warming. That’s a pretty cold play,” and the third one noted: “Any and every step towards saving the environment counts!”
Coldplay’s sustainability efforts in detail
1. Principles guiding Music of the Spheres tour
The ongoing Coldplay concert is being made as sustainable and low-carbon as possible, guided by three key principles,
a. Reduce: reduce our consumption, recycle extensively and cut our CO2 emissions by 50%
b. Reinvent: support new green technologies and develop new sustainable, super-low carbon touring methods
c. Restore: make the tour as environmentally beneficial as possible by funding a portfolio of nature- and technology-based projects and by drawing down significantly more CO2 than the tour produces
2. Taking care of CO2 emissions
Coldplay has promised to cut the tour’s direct emissions by more than 50% compared to its previous tour (2016-17), and keep its partners and suppliers’ impacts and emissions as low as possible. It intends to significantly minimise emissions from freight and transportation.
3. CO2 drawdown in focus
Despite the group’s best efforts, the tour is still expected to have a significant carbon footprint. Therefore, it has pledged to drawdown more CO2 than the tour produces, supporting projects based on reforestation, carbon capture and storage, renewable energy and others.
4. Plantation and power supply
In a significant move, Coldplay is planting 1 tree for every ticket sold, making it a staggering 5 million new trees planted. In addition, its stage production is powered almost entirely by renewable, super-low emission energy, as they focus on avoiding fossil fuels.
The group has installed kinetic floors in locations around the stadium so that the fans’ dancing can be converted into energy. Furthermore, it has also installed electricity-generating power bikes so that fans can actively charge the show batteries.
Coldplay’s ongoing concert’s focus on solar energy, sustainable biofuels and mobile, rechargeable and recyclable battery system is also prominent. In addition, stages are built from a combination of lightweight, low-carbon and reusable materials.
5. Plant-based LED wristbands
Coldplay is offering spectators reusable LED wristbands – made from 100% compostable, plant-based materials. It says it has reduced wristband production by 80% through collecting, sterilising and recharging the items after every show.
6. Travel made more sustainable
The music tour has been carefully pre-planned to minimise air travel, but some flying is unavoidable. The group does mostly fly on commercial flights, but there are unprecedented occasions that raise the need for charter flights for band, crew and equipment.
For all flights, Coldplay pays a surcharge to use or supply Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) – produced 100% from waste and residues. When used unblended with fossil jet fuel, SAF helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions of air travel by a major percentage.
Read More: Taylor Swift reduces private jet collection as environmental concerns grab spotlight
