Coldplay will no longer tour until shows are environmentally sustainable
Coldplay will not go on a world tour to promote its latest album, citing environmental concerns. The British band said it won't tour again until the shows can be done in a sustainable way.
"We would be disappointed if it's not carbon neutral," frontman Chris Martin told BBC News Thursday. He said the band wants to figure out how a tour can be not only sustainable, but actually beneficial to the environment.
Traditionally, concerts have large carbon footprints and produce a massive amount of plastic waste. The travel of both fans and performers, lighting and merchandise all have negative environmental impacts.
The band's latest album, "Everyday Life" was released globally Friday. Instead of a world tour, the band played two shows in Amman, Jordan, on Friday, which can be viewed globally for free on YouTube.
Coldplay will also play one show on Monday at London's Natural History Museum. All proceeds from that performance will be donated to an environmental charity, BBC reports.
"Our next tour will be the best possible version of a tour like that environmentally," Martin said, referring to the band's last world tour in 2016 and 2017, which featured over 100 shows across five continents.
"The hardest thing is the flying side of things," he said. "But, for example, our dream is to have a show with no single-use plastic, to have it largely solar-powered."
Martin said the band will spend the next couple of years figuring out how to develop a tour that actively benefits the environment.
"We've done a lot of big tours at this point," he continued. "How do we turn it around so it's not so much taking as giving?"
