Before hitting the road last March, Coldplay set some very ambitious environmental goals for their massive Music of the Spheres world tour. Their overarching aim was to reduce the carbon footprint from their 2016/2017 Head Full of Dreams stadium tour by more than 50%.

In a statement on Friday (June 2), the band said that the Spheres tour has so far produced 47% less CO2e emissions than their last outing and that they’ve planted five million trees to date, or roughly one for every one of the seven million tickets sold so far.

“When we first announced the Music Of The Spheres Tour, we hoped to make it as environmentally beneficial as possible and reduce our direct carbon emissions (from show production, freight, band and crew travel) by 50%,” read the statement, which said the data has been independently assessed and validated by professor John E. Fernandez of the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI).

While the numbers are a “good start… and something that our incredible crew should be very proud of,” Coldplay said there is definitely still room for improvement. “Now that we’re into the second year of the tour, we’ve started to run the entire show (audio, lights, lasers etc) from an electric battery system that allows us to use 100% renewable energy as efficiently as possible,” it continued. “We have been using electric vehicles and alternative fuels wherever we can, as well as reducing waste and plastic usage to a minimum.”

They also thanked the crew that has allowed them to achieve their goals, as well as the fans who have helped power the stage batteries using the exercise bikes and kinetic dance floors, as well as those who’ve walked, used bicycles, ride shares or public transportation to get to the gigs, brought their own refillable water bottles and returned the LED wristbands after each concert.

“And just by coming you have had a tree planted, and helped a range of environmental organizations like The Ocean Cleanup and ClientEarth (a team of lawyers who defend the environment). Thank you all and hopefully this time next year we will have made big improvements.”

In an accompanying statement, MIT’s Fernandez added, “Based on a detailed review of the work of Coldplay’s sustainability team in assessing and advising the band and management on the CO2e impact of touring, we fully endorse this effort as critically important, scientifically rigorous and of the highest quality. 

Fernandez said MIT ESI endorses the work Coldplay has done as an “important and substantive step toward a new era of eventually achieving carbon neutral music events by major artists. The band deserves significant praise in commissioning the work and acting as the vanguard for the global music industry as it begins to take seriously the reality of living and making music in the Anthropocene.” 

Coldplay also shared a number of other environmental data points for the tour so far, including:

— The five million trees planted amount to 5,000 hectares of land restored across 17 countries and 21 planting projects.

— One solar-powered River Interceptor deployed in March 2021 in the Klang River in Malaysia with 158 tons of waste and 13 tons of ocean-bound plastic removed since the start of the tour.

— An 86% average return rate for the reusable, plant-based LED writstbands.

— 15kWh average power per show generation through in-show solar installations, kinetic dance floors and power bikes, which was enough to power the satellite stage performances each night and provide phone, laptop and tool-charging stations for the crew.

— 66% of all tour waste diverted from landfills.

— 3,770 meals and 73 kg of toiletries donated from tour catering to the unhoused.

— Financial support to environmental organizations including ClientEarth,The Ocean Cleanup, Climeworks, Sea Shepherd, Project Seagrass, Sustainable Food Trust, Cleaner Seas Group, Food Forest Project, Knowledge Pele, Conservation Collective and others