Coldplay Announces Ecologically Sustainable 2022 Tour, Is It Possible?

The British quartet unveiled details of the promotional tour of their new album "Music of the Spheres", which will tour at least 10 countries in 2022 and will impress fans not only with good music, but with a new eco-friendly format for it. kind of massive events.

Remember that the band did not tour with their previous album "Everyday Life" and announced that they would stop doing international tours until they were respectful with the environment.

Now, these musicians who want to be an example for the rest and raise awareness about the serious climate situation on the planet, 2022 they will tour at least 10 countries with their tour, among which are Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, United States, Mexico, Germany, Poland, France, Scotland, England, and Brazil.

Chris Martin, Will Champion, Jon Buckland, and Guy Berryman state in their most recent statement that, “Playing live and finding connection with people is ultimately the reason we exist as a band […], we are very aware that the planet is facing a climate crisis. So we've spent the last two years consulting with environmental experts to make this tour as sustainable as possible and, more importantly, harnessing the tour's potential to push things forward. ”

But how will they do it?

The musicians hope to reduce CO2 emissions by 50%, use only recyclable materials, use 100% renewable energy and plant a tree for each ticket sold during the tour. The Coldplay soloist, Chris Martin has indicated that for this they will use a kinetic platform in the concerts, with which "the spectators moving will give energy to the concert. We have the bicycles that do the same '". In addition, it was learned that the BMW automotive label will support the initiative, by providing the first rechargeable mobile entertainment battery for the #MusicOfTheSpheresWorldTour #MOTSWT.

More than 40 batteries recycled from BMW i3 vehicles, will provide the electrical power necessary for the show, these will be recharged through a range of renewable sources such as a kinetic stadium floor, electric bicycles, generators powered by hydrotreated vegetable oil, and solar installations, thus they will be able to replace the diesel and gasoline-electric generators commonly used in these events.

Also read: Music Festivals Pollute the Environment, What Can You Do To Help?

How necessary are these types of actions?

Until now, very few artists have translated their concerns about the negative environmental impact generated by their tours into action.

Already in 2009, a group of experts from the universities of Surrey, Arizona, Oxford, and Colorado published a study that, translated, is entitled "Carbon survey: greenhouse gas in the United Kingdom in the music industry", which yielded figures on how the music industry is one of the most polluting.

According to their calculations, musical events left a polluting footprint of at least 5 kg of CO2 per person for small events, 18 kg of CO2 for an arena and 25 kg of CO2 for a festival. According to some estimates in 2019, according to official data, 133 million 783 thousand 828 people attended the most important concerts in the world, producing a minimum carbon footprint of 668 million 919 thousand 140 kg of CO2 (taking the lowest estimate of the study, 5 kg of CO2 per person).

The Green Touring organization, states that a ton of CO2 is equivalent to the gas concentration of a two-story house (about eight meters high). In other words, the most important concerts annually contaminate at least the equivalent of a town of 668,919 houses.

Faced with this scenario, environmental organizations call on artists, so that they are the ones who take on tangible initiatives.

Fine Stammnitz, director of Green Touring, a German organization that in 2016 created a guide for musicians around the world to learn how to offset their carbon footprint, says “Tours and concerts canceled by COVID-19 have a similar impact on the planet that of the tourist break: it is short-term. When the time comes and the massive concerts come back, there will be so much to update that it will be better to sit down now and develop green solutions for the future ”,

This step by the British quartet joins that of a few artists who have committed themselves to look for ecological alternatives to promote a turn in the music industry around the production of these massive events. Hopefully, the expectation of raising awareness and adding more people to this type of effort is achieved with this new concert format that will soon travel the world to meet thousands of fans after two years of social isolation.