The combination of ecology and music is a growing trend, as evidenced by the green touring movement. More and more artists are joining the new wave that seeks to reduce the carbon footprint of their tours. For artists such as Coldplay, Maroon 5, Billie Eilish or Shawn Mendes, the development of sustainable strategies is becoming a priority.
CO2 Revolution, a start-up dedicated to calculating and offsetting the carbon footprint through reforestation, estimates the impact on the environment of holding a music festival in the summer of 2023 in Spain. Fifty are the most outstanding festivals celebrated in the Spanish geography.
According to Juan Carlos Sesma, CEO of CO2 Revolution, “Artists should be supported in planning ecotourism by different media related to the sector.” In this sense, the company reserves more than 100,000 tonnes of its carbon credits to offset the carbon footprint of concerts in Spain. The creation of forests has become an important part of the green touring movement as a solution to offset carbon footprint and in the fight against climate change.
According to Sesma, to calculate the carbon footprint of large events such as music festivals, factors such as the energy required for lighting, air conditioning and other systems, as well as the transportation used to attend, will come into play.
To offset the carbon footprint of the two-day concert attended by 20 music groups and 40,000 attendees, an estimated 5,000 tonnes of CO2 are generated. Of this amount, 20% will come from direct emissions (own generated waste, assembly of the event, energy generated on site…) and 80% from indirect emissions (transportation of suppliers and attendees, waste generated at the event, purchased products). or used…)
Based on this scenario, CO2 Revolution experts have calculated that to balance the carbon footprint of such an event, approximately 20,900 trees would need to be planted at a planting density of 1,100 trees/hectare. At the end of the shelf life of this forest, which is estimated to be 40 years, it will have a density of 900 trees per hectare, which is equivalent to 17,100 trees. These trees will absorb the 5,000 tonnes needed to balance the footprint of the event after four decades.
The CO2 revolution has offered to calculate what would be an ideal forest to plant such an amount of trees. A species mixture typical of Mediterranean forests typical of the region is proposed, consisting of 50% Pinus halepensis, 20% Quercus ilex, 10% Celtis australis, 10% Juniperus oxycedrus, J. communis and 10% Juniperus phoenicia.
Species selection is done by giving priority to species that are native and always respecting the biodiversity of the region. Factors such as weather or terrain characteristics are also taken into consideration while reforesting.