Earth Day 2024: Live’s sustainability priorities

A range of industry figures have shared their sustainability priorities for the live music sector to mark Earth Day 2024 – an annual event that highlights the importance of environmental protection.

While the industry continues to improve its efforts on green issues, there remains much room for improvement. Earlier this year it was announced that a comprehensive study into the carbon footprint of the live music industry is being conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and co-funded by Coldplay, Live Nation and Warner Music Group.

The report will propose practical solutions to reduce the environmental impact of live music events “at every level”, from pubs and clubs to stadiums.

Last week, The O2 in London revealed that more than 545.9 tonnes of carbon was extracted during The 1975’s four main concerts in February. The shows marked the world’s first carbon removal arena events and took place in collaboration with carbon removal experts CUR8 and sustainable events specialists A Greener Future (AGF).

“This year is all about strengthening our path to net zero,” said Sam Booth, sustainability director at AEG Europe I.Q. “Following the success of our recent pilot series of carbon-removal arena events at The O2, we now need to undertake some detailed work around our overall gas consumption, as well as figuring out our approach to handling fan travel and continuing to work with brand partners to tackle emissions of the products we sell in the arena.

“Education is also an incredibly important area of ​​focus, which is why we are rolling out training for all our employees to ensure they know how to make more sustainable choices in their daily tasks.”

“How sustainable we can be with our energy, transport, water, food, etc., all depends on policies, legislation, taxes and subsidies that enable better choices”

Elsewhere, sustainability initiative Vision:2025 and Julie’s Bicycle launched a 12-month pilot with ten local authorities in January to test how the Green Events Code of Practice (GECOP) can be used to embed sustainability into local government processes.

“We are all looking for a simple answer to the question: what does good look like?” Vision:2025 chairman Chris Johnson, co-founder of the British Shambala Festival, explains I.Q. “Our priority for 2024 is to pilot the new Green Events Code of Practice with local authorities and take steps towards establishing an acceptable minimum best practice for sustainability in the UK that promoters, supply chain and local authorities understand .”

AGF (A Greener Future) recently praised “significant areas for improvement” in festival sustainability after researching more than 40 European events. The sustainability nonprofit has released its Festival Sustainability Report, which includes data analytics on mobility, food and beverage, water and sanitation, power and fuel consumption, waste and recycling, and CO2 emissions from events at the continent.

“By 2024, most of the world’s population will be called to vote,” says AGF co-founder Claire O’Neill, who organizes the Green Events & Innovations Conference (GEI). “How sustainable we can be with our energy, transport, water, food, etc., all depends on policies, legislation, taxes and subsidies that enable better choices. We need governments in power that understand and support a just transition to a green economy.

“In Britain, voters now have to use a photo ID to vote, which is a hurdle for many. We support #JustVote24 to help young and disadvantaged people obtain their voter ID card if they do not have a passport/driving license or elderly bus pass, and then let them vote. The music campaign is called #crashtheparty and we urge everyone in live music to get behind this and local equivalents.”

Germany-based Holger Jan Schmidt, head of the pan-European think tank GO Group (Green Operations Europe) and general secretary of the European festival association Yourope, points out that the latter organization has slightly adjusted its approach recently.

“The focus today is less on honoring the spearheads of sustainable festivals and more on making the sector as a whole future-proof”

“Although we continue to award the Green Operations Award, the focus today is less on honoring the spearheads of sustainable festivals and more on making the sector as a whole future-proof,” says Schmidt in conversation with I.Q. “Today Yourope offers quite useful tools that allow each festival to position itself accordingly, train the team and benefit from the great expertise of the frontrunners. Examples of this are our European Green festival Roadmap 2030 and the Future Festival Tools with self-assessment tool, e-learning course and best practice guide.

“For this purpose, our association works with both the expert organizations in the live entertainment industry and directly with the festivals to identify their needs and develop tailor-made measures.”

In a further notable development, six Spanish music promoters – Advanced Music, Bring The Noise, Centris, elrow, The Music Republic and Sharemusic! – have signed strategic sponsorship agreements with Madrid-based global energy company Repsol to jointly promote the use of various multi-energy solutions and reduce their carbon footprint.

The agreement initially covers 77 events managed by the companies in Spain and Portugal, increasing to 89. Festivals such as the FIB, Arenal Sound, Sonar Lisbon and O son de Camiño, among others, will use 100% renewable fuels to reduce their CO2 emissions. Reduce. emissions.

Meanwhile, venue management giant ASM Global, which operates more than 50 green-certified venues, has marked Earth Month 2024 by appointing Lindsay Arell as Chief Sustainability Officer as it steps up efforts to transform its portfolio of 400 venues into “the most sustainable on Earth ”. soil”.

After founding her own company, Honeycomb Strategies, Arell led the development of the ASM Global ACTS sustainability plan and is a past chair of both the Events Industry Council Sustainability Committee (EIC) and ASTM Venue Sustainability Standard. Arell’s new role is part of ASM’s sustainability goals, announced in 2023, which include the elimination of single-use plastics.

“I am thrilled for the opportunity to lead ASM’s sustainability initiatives, together with our teams and communities across our more than 400 locations worldwide.” Arell says. “By providing our site teams with the necessary knowledge and resources, we can significantly accelerate the progress of our program.”

Last week, plans were announced for ASM to join reuse platform r.World to quickly introduce reusable serviceware to locations across ASM’s portfolio.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, I.Q‘s free email digest with essential news from the live music industry.