Massive Attack publish Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Live Music Roadmap

Working together with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change, Massive Attack has today launched a roadmap for the UK live music sector to play its part in tackling the climate crisis, and aims to adopt these recommendations going forward.

Massive Attack has published an open resource to the music industry, the Roadmap to Super Low Carbon Live Music, commissioned by the band and produced by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research – a specialist body that brings together scientists, engineers, economists and social scientists to accelerate society’s transition to a sustainable, low-carbon future and avert climate catastrophe.

This roadmap outlines a set of clearly defined and measurable targets that the live music sector could adopt to play a leading role in meeting the Paris Agreement on climate change.

See a full summary of the key recommendations

Emissions reductions on tour

As an immediate response to this exploration, Massive Attack have designed six major emissions reduction modules for their 2022 tour, to trial implementation and carry out modelling on interactive practicalities, and to then bring all project learning together in a major UK testbed live show to proliferate change.

The band are also excited to work with industrialist Dale Vince and Ecotricity to design bespoke partnerships with a wide variety of music arenas and venues – so we can create far greater renewable energy capacity for the UK grid, help train event staff to run and generate sustainable operations, and to introduce vegan food options in front and back of house set-ups.

Robert del Naja (3D), Massive Attack said:

“We’re grateful to Tyndall Centre analysts for providing our industry with a comprehensive, independent, scientifically produced formula to facilitate industry compatibility with the Paris/1.5 degrees climate targets – but what matters now is implementation. The major promotors simply must do more – it can’t be left to artists to continually make these public appeals. But our sector is operating in a government void. Nine weeks out of COP26, where is the industrial plan, or any plan at all, for the scale of transformation that’s required for the UK economy and society?

“Fossil fuel companies seem to have no problem at all getting huge subsidies from government, but where is the plan for investment in clean battery technology, clean infrastructure or decarbonised food supply for a live music sector that generates £4.6 billion for the economy every year and employs more than 200k dedicated people? It simply doesn’t exist.”

“We hope that this roadmap can help to catalyse change by outlining the scale of action required and how this maps across the different elements of a tour. To reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change, touring practices need to be reassembled differently as the industry emerges from the significant challenges that the pandemic has created. This starts from the very inception of a tour and requires the creativity and innovation of artists, managers, promoters, designers and agents to be unleashed to establish new ways of planning and delivering live music tours.”
Professor Carly McLachlan, Director of Tyndall Manchester

Massive Attack now plan to help contribute rapid answers to a range of questions posed by this report:

For indoor shows, which venues can provide “plug and play” options to remove the constant and unnecessary movement of touring production freight? How easily can venues switch their power supplies to genuinely renewable sources that materially increase new solar and wind capacity for the UK grid overall?
For the festival sector, facing the inevitability of increased environmental measures within the licensing framework and the urgent replacement of diesel power: what increased role can central and local government now play in the provision and viability of clean battery technology for festival events? Where can new local and national partnerships be built that plug events into the power grid and create localised supply chains, including catering, services and equipment?
And for both: how can we incentivise and enhance audience travel via rail; what role can smart train ticket packages play? And ultimately for major events, who will be the first to embrace the use of individual chartered trains? Who are the partners to collaborate on the smart-routing tours, adapting transportation possibilities to the lowest carbon emitting option, and test electric freight options and the viability of rail freight networking?

Positive change to carbon impact

Massive Attack are committed, with immediate effect, to working with all stakeholders who are focused on actioning these points.

“Too often, carbon reduction targets can seem overwhelming or unattainable, but we know from our own experience of band travel via rail (achieving an instant 31 per cent reduction overall in the most carbon intensive band activity) and the availability, now, of biogas HGV technology that offers 90-95% GHG emissions reductions, that immediate action is possible. And our own discussions with renewable power providers and transport operators demonstrate more existing opportunities for positive change.”

The band would also want to see these transitions carried out fairly and equitably, in order that smaller independent venues and festivals who have suffered so badly during the COVID 19 pandemic do not suffer further – and are financially supported in their own adaptations, by both the government and the sector overall.

Professor Carly McLachlan said: “We hope that this roadmap can help to catalyse change by outlining the scale of action required and how this maps across the different elements of a tour. To reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change, touring practices need to be reassembled differently as the industry emerges from the significant challenges that the pandemic has created.

“This starts from the very inception of a tour and requires the creativity and innovation of artists, managers, promoters, designers and agents to be unleashed to establish new ways of planning and delivering live music tours.”

Dale Vince OBE said: “We’re happy to be working with Massive Attack to facilitate rapid change in the live music world. Every section of society has to make positive changes, and gigs are no exception. The partnership we’ve designed will allow venues and arenas to create and contribute more renewable energy to the grid every time they switch on their lights, or power an amp. The staff training element can hard wire sustainability into every area of operations, and the vegan food option for back and front of house can make an immediate difference to our carbon impact.”