British rock superstars Coldplay are currently on a world tour; undoubtedly a carbon-heavy business given the amount of travel involved. While such an activity may hold personal interest, it usually wouldn’t be of professional focus for Procurri – but this tour holds exceptional sustainability credentials which truly lead by example.
Coldplay’s Sustainability Drive
Through the first two years of their current tour, Coldplay reduced their carbon footprint by 59% compared to their previous. Where possible, they ditched air travel for train, installed dance floors that used attendees’ movement to generate electricity and gave all concert-goers recyclable LED wristbands that were handed back in at the end of the show. Furthermore, trees were planted elsewhere for every ticket sold, and all of the waste from the band, crew and attendees was sorted; with an impressive 72% of it being processed for reuse, recycling or composting.
As if that wasn’t enough, lead singer Chris Martin gave the commitment that he wouldn’t tour again unless it could be done more sustainably, and the band committed to lower tour emissions by 50% – and had the actual figure verified by a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Businesses and Sustainability
In comparison to businesses, this may not seem a hefty target but the actual achievement of it is very impressive. The 2008 Climate Act in the UK (where Coldplay are from) committed to reduce GHG emissions by 80% by 2050, compared to the levels in 1990. This was further strengthened in 2019, when the target was increased to net zero. As such, all SMEs in the UK would need to have set – and met – such a target.
While initial progress toward meeting such targets was initially fairly successful, the government’s independent advisers, the CCC (Climate Change Committee) expressed concern in May 2024 about a slowdown in action. To reinforce their concern, the High Court then ruled that the government’s net zero strategy would need re-drafting because it did not contain enough detail – for the second time in two years.
So, What Can Corporates Learn From Coldplay?
If a band can so successfully publicly proclaim their commitment to sustainability and action it, why are businesses struggling to do the same? When the Procurri team discuss CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) concerns with organizations, it often seems that they’re overwhelmed with the scale of the job to be done. In our experience, much can come from small changes and accumulate to large results; just as Coldplay have demonstrated.
Take Accountability With Auditing
Coldplay’s emissions reduction was monitored and reported on by an independent third party. Such firms exist to do the same and help businesses monitor, improve and audit their own emissions – and even drive them toward a Carbon Neutral target operation. For example, Procurri are accredited by The Carbon Footprint Standard, who award our Carbon Neutral Organisation and C02E Reduced Organisation credentials. Working with specialist businesses of this nature afford accountability and often offer new ideas for reductions and improvements.
Involve Your Audience
Coldplay publicly committed to their targets and involved their audiences in their initiatives. Businesses can too get ‘buy-in’ by encouraging both their customers and suppliers to operate as sustainably as possible. For example, Procurri’s work toward achieving the UN SDGs (Sustainability Development Goals) allows their customers to use such progress in their own Scope 3 reporting.
Work With What You’ve Got
The use of a dancefloor that generated electricity from the movement of attendees was a fantastic idea for the Coldplay tour – taking advantage of what they already had to improve sustainability. Businesses can do the same by improving the usage of their existing assets. For example, the use of Third Party Maintenance allows for the extension of asset value and avoids overconsumption; and utilising Modern Workplace Solutions for remote hardware deployment reduces the need for carbon-heavy travel.
Rejuvenate Waste
With some 72% of the tour’s total waste being directed away from landfill to recycling, reuse or repurpose, Coldplay’s move to instil a positive impact in an aspect of their activity they wouldn’t usually has been proven extremely successful. While many businesses have made moves toward installing recycling bins and separating waste in office spaces and working environments, e-waste remains a real problem. When IT hardware reaches the end of its usable life, such assets are usually handed over to a third party company and end up in landfill. Instead, business can move to work with zero-to-landfill ITAD (IT Asset Disposition) providers and immediately lower their harmful impact on the environment.
Nobody Said It Was Easy: The Next Steps
Very few business entities are able to operate entirely without emissions, and so there is always work to be done. Working with specialists and those who know how to instil sustainability standards into the idiosyncrasies of businesses are key. That’s exactly where Procurri come in.
As the only 100% channel focused company in our space, we focus exclusively on delivering lifecycle solutions that aren’t typically available from traditional IT channel providers. We service 200+ countries from 20 offices and 8 global distribution warehouses; working on a follow-the-sun basis to be contactable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.
Logging a query on the Procurri site will let us assign you an account manager who can call you back and talk through your business in detail. We often find that people are surprised by just how much can be achieved by shifting some operational practices from the status quo. Just because something has ‘always been done’ one wat doesn’t mean it should continue – and often sustainable practices are much cheaper than outdated wasteful ones. Get in touch today and you too may soon be looking at some hefty carbon reductions… no LED wristbands or bouncy dancefloor generators required!
