After a four-year break from touring, Coldplay will return to the stage next year with their “Music Of The Spheres” world tour. Between the disposable cups, massive amounts of electricity and general waste, live shows are not the most eco-friendly of events, but the band is looking to change that, by cutting carbon emissions by 50% compared to their previous tour.
This eco-friendly tour has been a long time coming – in 2019, Coldplay said that they would not continue touring due to environmental concerns and since then, they’ve been consulting with environmental experts to make any future tours as sustainable as possible, which is exactly what they’ve done.
The 2022 world tour will be powered entirely by renewable energy, with sets created with bamboo. For those unavoidable emissions from flying, Coldplay is teaming up with BMW to use rechargeable batteries for their shows that are powered by solar energy, recycled cooking oil and the kinetic energy of their audiences – guests will literally be dancing to help the environment!
The band will also offset their carbon emissions by planting a tree for every ticket sold and funding eco-friendly technology projects. At each venue, toilets will be low-flushing and water pressure will be reduced to reduce water wastage, and there will be free drinking water with reusable aluminium cups available.
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They’ve aligned their goals with the targets set out by the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC) that encourage countries to reduce global emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
The band will be touring to many countries, including Costa Rica, the US, Germany, France, the UK and Brazil. Sadly, there are no Asia dates, but hopefully travel will be easier by next year. See the dates here.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin was asked how the band will deal with potential backlash that may come from announcing an eco-friendly tour that requires air travel, and he said: “We won’t get everything right, but we’re committed to doing everything we can and sharing what we learn. It’s a work in progress and we’re really grateful for the help we’ve had so far. We could stay at home, and that may be better, but we want to tour and we want to meet people and connect with people. So we’ll try to do that in the cleanest way possible.”
We’ve long been massive fans of Coldplay (Chris Martin even performed at 8Shades’ founder, Emily Lam-Ho’s wedding!) and we’re so excited that bands are working to become more eco-friendly. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be scrambling to get our tickets…
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See also: Your COP26 Cheat Sheet: 8 Things You Need To Know
Featured image: Courtesy of Coldplay
