Sign in
Musicians are trying to cut concert emissions: UK trip-hop band Massive Attack partnered with climate scientist Carly McLachlan to decarbonize the live-music industry, according to a study (pdf) published in Nature Journal. McLachlan, director at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, was approached by the band in 2019 to assess and reduce the carbon footprint of their tours. This collaboration led to the creation of the Super-Low Carbon Live Music road map (pdf), a report published in 2021, which outlines actionable steps for the music industry to align with the Paris Agreement.
The plan in action: The road map’s principles were put to the test during Massive Attack’s Act 1.5 Climate Action Accelerator event on 25 August in Bristol, UK. The concert — attended by 34k people — was powered entirely by renewable energy and batteries, significantly reducing its carbon emissions. The event also featured plant-based food, zero-waste policies, and incentives for audience members to use public transport, showcasing practical steps towards a sustainable future for live music.
What’s next? McLachlan’s team will analyze data from the event to develop new standards for the industry. The findings — expected to be published by the end of the year — aim to demonstrate how similar low-carbon practices can be replicated across the industry.
The TV industry is working to decarbonize too: Netflix is finding ways to reduce the carbon footprint of film and TV sets which account for more than half of the company’s total emissions, the company’s sustainability officer Emma Stewart told Bloomberg last week. Shows, including Brigderton, Virgin River, and Stranger Things, are testing replacing diesel generators with hydrogen, batteries, and solar-powered trailers.
Why does this matter? The carbon footprint of average film production is massive at around 3.3k metric tons of CO2, according to a report (pdf) by the Sustainable Production Alliance. The largest contributor for all film sizes is fuel used by vehicles and power generators, causing almost half of the average emissions.
What is Netflix doing? The company has invested in renewable energy certificates and carbon credits to offset emissions. However, these tools have faced criticism over reports of their limited impact on actual emissions reduction. Other more effective alternatives that Netflix has been exploring include direct power purchase agreements with renewable developers, on-set mandates like carbon budgets, as well as financial incentives such as “sustainability allowance” that provide incentives to producers to adopt EVs, batteries, and renewables on their sets.
But there are challenges: The company doesn’t own most of its production equipment, making it difficult to enforce greener practices due to logistical and technical challenges in integrating green technology on sets. Virgin River’s production team, for instance, has had to adapt its set to be able to use its electric vehicles and manage battery-powered equipment.
But other efforts are underway: Netflix is trying to incentivize suppliers to adopt low-emission technologies. The company is also investing in startups and initiatives like the Clean Mobile Power Initiative to boost the green equipment supply chain.
