Coldplay have announced they will not tour their new album, Everyday Life, until they can ensure the tour is carbon neutral. Frontman Chris Martin told BBC News the band aims to make their next tour 'actively beneficial' to the environment.
'Our next tour will be the best possible version of a tour like that environmentally,' Martin said. 'We would be disappointed if it's not carbon neutral. We've done a lot of big tours at this point. How do we turn it around so it's not so much taking as giving?'
Coldplay join a growing number of artists addressing touring's environmental impact. Billie Eilish has announced plans for a 'green' world tour, banning plastic straws and offering recycling facilities. The 1975 are planting a tree for every ticket sold on their upcoming UK arena tour and have stopped producing new T-shirts, instead screen-printing over old stock.
Emma Banks, co-founder of Creative Artists Agency, questioned the necessity of large-scale tours requiring dozens of trucks. 'While I certainly don't want to be putting anybody out of business, I think we have to start being realistic and going, OK, let's just dial it down a bit,' she told the BBC.
Music festivals are also under pressure. Glastonbury banned single-use plastic bottles this year, and over 60 major festivals, including Reading and Leeds, have pledged to go plastic-free by 2021.
Coldplay will play two shows in Jordan on 22 November, streamed live, and a one-off concert at London's Natural History Museum on 25 November, with proceeds going to environmental law charity ClientEarth.
