London debuts new 'Green Music Guide'

With the International Live Music Conference under way in London, a music industry coalition and the mayor of London have together issued a new Green Music Guide.

Aimed at both music companies and musicians, the guide provides information on how to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint. In London alone, the music industry generates about 465,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year — as much as nearly 90,000 homes.

Areas in which musicians can have the greatest green impact include audience travel to events, greater use of on-site renewable energy sources and improved energy efficiency in venues. Changes in packaging can also make a difference: research shows, for example, that greenhouse gas emissions associated with CD packaging could be cut by up to 95 percent if jewel cases were replaced with card wallets.

“I want London to become an international leader in low carbon living, so it’s fantastic that our world-class creative industries are rising to that challenge,” said Mayor Boris Johnson. “I congratulate the music industry for taking practical steps to become less wasteful in their use of energy and to cut the carbon emissions that cause climate change. We’ve supported this determination by providing expert know-how on how the industry can achieve genuine savings in line with my target to slash carbon by 60 percent by 2025.”