@Green September/October 2024 | Page 23

September-October . 2024 | @ green

Energy-generating bicycles at the Coldplay tour .

from the pop band , “ Coldplay ”. Coldplay formed in London in the late 1990s . The band has recorded numerous pop hits and has a global following of immense proportions . With over 100 million albums reportedly sold worldwide , Coldplay is reputed to be among the best-selling music bands of all time .

Coldplay has been touring the world since 2000 , and currently , such an activity would be viewed as potentially environmentally damaging . On their current “ Music of the Spheres ” world tour , which began in March 2022 , Coldplay has already played 164 shows ( and counting ) in cities across Europe , Asia , Latin and North America . Sensitive to the expectations of their environmentally informed fanbase , Coldplay has been revolutionising touring to reduce its negative impact on the environment . The band has been utilising a range of new technologies to neutralise the negative environmental influence of their activities .

Three principles guide their sustainability initiative :

• Reduce - less consumption , more recycling and cut CO2 emissions by 50 per cent ( in comparison to the 2016-17 tour ),

• Reinvent - support new green technologies ( including kinetic dance floors ) and develop new sustainable , super-low carbon touring methods , and ,

• Restore - fund projects and draw down more CO2 than the tour produces . Apart from embracing technology to mitigate its impact on the climate , Coldplay has also used its popularity , particularly amongst the younger generation , to increase environmental awareness , particularly in the area of climate change .

INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS

Over the years , the technology deployed by Coldplay includes :

• Using sustainable energy sources to power their concerts . Coldplay partnered with car manufacturer BMW to develop a mobile , rechargeable battery storage system that can power 100 per cent of their show with renewable energy at any location in the world . To demonstrate their adherence to their sustainability principles , recycled BMW i3 batteries are used as part of the battery storage system - a first of its kind .

• Kinetic energy , generated by the movement of Coldplay ’ s fanbase on kinetic dancefloors ( and its followers , working out on static bicycles ), is also being harnessed . The organisation , Energy Floors , created tiles especially for the tour that are durable , portable , and use the power of the audience dancing to charge the power banks supporting the show .

• Finally , biofuels for vehicles , solar photovoltaic panels to charge the energy storage system and support from a renewable grid power ( if required ) make up the rest of the renewable , low-emission energy system used to power the show and tour . Other Coldplay practices contribute to environmental efficiency . The current world tour was carefully planned to minimise air travel , and when air travel is inevitably necessary , the band pays a surcharge to use Sustainable Aviation Fuel ( SAF ).

It is also estimated that about a third of the 400,000 tonnes of GHG emissions generated by live concerts each year originate from audience travel . To reduce this number , Coldplay established a partnership with software developer , SAP . Together , a software application was developed to inform fans about low-carbon options available when travelling to concerts . Since its launch in March 2022 , there have been over 350,000 downloads of this app , which also encourages fans to use lowcarbon transport options by offering rewards through discount codes .

COLDPLAY SCORECARD

On Jun 3 , 2024 , Coldplay issued a statement ( Figure 2 ) disclosing their progress , mid-tour , towards achieving their sustainability goals .

COOL LESSON LEARNT

Whether the climate crisis is real or ,

• if it is a package which allows politicians to leverage the emotionally

Figure 2 . charged topic of climate change , or

• perhaps the apparently catastrophic consequences of climate change provide a valuable foundation for large-scale capital allocation , providing geographies , particularly those lagging in economic performance , with a new young shoot of growth in gross domestic product ( GDP ), or as some conspiracy theorists even hypothesise , the climate crisis narrative is planted and pursued to reduce the significance of the Middle Eastern countries as partners in the energy security formula of the world .

Whatever the facts , a reduction in GHG emissions is a worthy long-term pursuit for all of humankind . Coldplay shows that when there is a will , some of the most difficult-to-abate sources of emissions can be addressed for longterm benefit .

As one of the most famous Coldplay songs go , “ Viva la Vida ” or “ Long Live Life ”.– @ green

FOLLOWING the 2015 Paris Agreement , the United Nations invited sports organisations and their stakeholders to join their “ Sports for Climate Action initiative ”. This initiative aims to encourage sports organisations to show climate leadership and achieve global Climate Change goals . Signatories are asked to commit to halving their GHG emissions by 2030 and targeting net zero by 2040 .

Signatories to the initiative span the sporting bodies and organisations covering multiple sports . In the United Kingdom , UK Sport recently published its Environmental Sustainability Strategy , which includes an aim for high-performance sports to have a netpositive impact on the environment by 2040 . The strategy also highlights the important role that sport can play in advocating for environmental sustainability and inspiring positive change across society .

One of the most globally popular sports is soccer . The emissions of soccer clubs have proven challenging to estimate as each club ’ s respective emissions depend on the size of the club , its location and the degree of its sporting success . Travel by fans and teams , however , has consistently been shown to be the main culprit behind football ’ s negative impact on the environment .

It is estimated that the global football industry produces more than 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually , roughly the equivalent of 10 per cent the total emissions generated by Malaysia .

The men ’ s Fifa World Cup 2022 in Qatar produced approximately 3.63 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent ( CO2e ), whilst the organising committee of the 2024 Olympics reported that the estimated carbon footprint of the 2024 Paris Games was 1.58 million tonnes of CO2e .