Live making ‘major strides’ on green issues

The touring industry has reflected on a year of “leading by example” on sustainability as it marks Earth Day 2025.

A global movement highlighting the importance of environmental protection, Earth Day launched in the US in 1970 and is celebrated on 22 April each year.

The annual event has given the business a chance to take stock of its progress on green issues following a significant 12 months, which included Massive Attack’s pioneering Act 1.5 show in their native Bristol last August. Held on Clifton Downs, the AEG-backed 32,000-cap concert was powered by 100% renewable energy and broke a world record for producing the lowest ever carbon emissions.

The band are also set to deliver a 100% battery-powered festival headline set during the inaugural LIDO Festival in London this summer, and will build on the sustainability methods first trialled in Bristol with a weekend of live music at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena between 28-30 November this year.

Claire O’Neill, co-founder of A Greener Future (AGF) – which was responsible for advanced planning, on-site sustainability management and coordination, post-event analysis and reporting for the Bristol gig – credits the live music sector for showing the way forward.

“2024 has been a year of leading by example,” she tells IQ. “We were a part of the world record-breaking low carbon show, Massive Attack Act 1.5 Climate Action Accelerator, which was 100% plant-based for audience, crew and artists, 100% powered by battery charged by green tariff grid, and with extra trains and EV buses laid on for audience transport.

“Act 1.5 subsequently collaborated with Liverpool City and the UN to create the global initiative UN Accelerator City for Climate Action, which encourages city-wide collaborative action through TV, film and the live sector.”

“There’s been incredible progress over the past year”

O’Neill praises Grid Faeries x Ecotricity for getting festivals and event sites “off diesel and onto grid”, while providing 1MW battery power that can entirely power large main stages, including the Arcadia Dragonfly at Glastonbury, Womad and Massive Attack’s Bristol gig. In the UK, the Live Events Energy Scheme (LEES) was launched with LIVE, Ecotricity and AGF for the live sector to collectively purchase renewable energy.

In addition, O’Neill references AGF’s Annual Festival Sustainability Insights, which showed that more festivals across Europe are going plant-based, and that the equivalent emissions of food and drink can be more than 30% of the entire event impact, including travel, and can be drastically reduced by eliminating meat and dairy.

UK trade body LIVE also announced a groundbreaking sustainability initiative aimed at driving the adoption of greener working practices across the board. The scheme introduced a contractual clause template for artists booking contracts, with the goal of galvanising industry-wide action and transforming the environmental impact of live events.

Battery-powered shows have also been embraced by artists including Billie Eilish, Bruce Springsteen, Lukas Graham and Dave Matthews Band, festivals such as Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza and venues including the Netherlands’ Johan Cruijff ArenA.

Live Nation’s Electric Picnic powered its main stage with 100% renewable energy from the grid, while hydrogen power units were deployed at Latitude, Openair Frauenfeld, and Isle of Wight for zero-emission electricity

“There’s been incredible progress over the past year, which we’ve witnessed firsthand across our festivals,” says a Live Nation spokesperson. “Throughout all our festivals we’ve also increased the use of HVO biofuel and expanded grid connection to eliminate fossil fuel-powered generators.

“We’re also seeing more industry-wide collaboration. Our involvement in the Green Events Code of Practice has helped create practical guidelines for event organisers, while Festival Republic’s support of the The Show Will Go On report is giving festivals and promoters the tools they need to improve their sustainability efforts – setting achievable standards and a 2030 transition plan that everyone in the industry can follow.”

“Every day seems to bring a new initiative or report focusing on the events industry, and there have been some major strides taken”

The spokesperson adds that German festivals Splash! and Melt were selected to take part on the ECO2CONCERT research project funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs and Transport to develop an innovative energy and mobility planning and monitoring platform for music festivals.

Sam Booth, who was appointed as AEG Europe’s first director of sustainability in 2023, has been heartened by developments in the field.

“Every day seems to bring a new initiative or report focusing on the events industry, and there have been some major strides taken with events like Act 1.5 taking place,” he says. “Whilst there remains some significant headwinds, there is still plenty of hugely encouraging work happening and that’s enough to look to the future with confidence.”

In terms of the remainder of 2025, Booth is calling for the utilisation of new technologies like batteries, and products such as Notpla plastic-free packaging to help “hack the traditional event ecosystem without altering the fan experience”.

Live Nation is pushing forward on two fronts – decarbonisation and waste reduction. Efforts to reduce its carbon emissions include rolling out LED lighting across its venues, exploring solar options, and getting more festivals connected to the grid and powered by HVO biofuel.

“We’re also prioritising waste reduction through improved campsite awareness campaigns for festivalgoers and smarter onsite sorting to boost our recycling efforts,” adds a company spokesperson.

“Faster action is needed to move away from burning fuel to reduce costs and prevent further climate change and air pollution”

Top of O’Neill’s priorities, meanwhile, is to increase the plant-based food consumed and served at events.

“Industrial animal agriculture is one of the main drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss,” she says. “Going plant-based significantly reduces our negative environmental impact, whilst not costing anything.”

O’Neill also stresses the need to strengthen partnerships and collaboration with governments, local authorities and other key industries to “accelerate effective and affordable change”.

AGF today released its Low Emission Festivals Report, which revealed the current status and future trends in the use of power at festivals. Key takeaways include that nearly 70% of survey respondents indicated they are working to reduce energy consumption and festivals are adopting hybrid battery systems, transitioning to grid power and using more energy-efficient equipment like LED lights.

Other findings were that 76% of festivals still use diesel generators; high costs and logistical challenges were obstacles to implementing sustainable energy solutions; and festivals engage with power providers too late to optimise their energy consumption.

“We’ve known for more than a decade that event power requirements are over specified – meaning they make inefficient use of generators – and have been aware of the need to use low carbon alternatives, yet despite this, progress has been slow,” says O’Neill. “Faster action is needed to move away from burning fuel to reduce costs and prevent further climate change and air pollution.

“This report provides insight for organisers and power providers to work collaboratively for these outcomes, in an equitable and sustainable way.”

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