Live Earth Issues Final Assessment Report, Meeting Goals for Reducing CO2 Emissions and Waste at 07/07/07 Concerts

Live Earth Issues Final Assessment Report, Meeting Goals for Reducing CO2 Emissions and Waste at 07/07/07 Concerts

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a ten-week audit, Live Earth has issued its final report on the energy reduction and waste diversion efforts surrounding its worldwide concerts held this past July. Live Earth's maiden event met its goal in restraining carbon emissions to 19,708 metric tons, while of the 97 metric tons of waste collected, 81% was diverted from landfills via recycling and composting efforts. The results confirm the efficacy of Live Earth's "Green Guidelines," posted on its website (http://www.liveearth.org/), which offer practical advice for organizers of future large-scale events, whether musical concerts, cultural gatherings or sports competitions.

The report, written by Live Earth with assistance from L.A.-based Brand Neutral, has been issued as Live Earth transforms from a one-time event into an organization that seeks to leverage the power of music and integrated entertainment to combat climate change. Live Earth engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers to provide recommendations regarding its carbon footprint methodology and reporting procedures. These recommendations have enabled Live Earth to improve its methodology and carbon footprint report, and also the underlying risk and control framework can be developed going forward. This assessment was performed by a global team of specialists and was coordinated from the Netherlands.

Explains Live Earth Founder Kevin Wall, "From the start we were committed to making the concerts themselves low-impact events and to achieving a high level of transparency in conducting a broad report. We hope that we've not only set the bar high for ourselves, but have set a new watermark in sustainable event production for the industry at large."

Planning began in the fall of 2006, nearly ten months out, with the Live Earth Green Team conducting a wide-ranging "carbon footprint assessment," a scientifically grounded estimate of projected energy and resource consumption. Based on their data collection, and with broad support from the U.S. Green Building Council, The Climate Group and creators of the LEED Green Building Rating System, the team created an industry first: a set of "Green Event Guidelines" and "Green Artist Guidelines."

While the most important decision was holding most concerts during daylight hours, other strategies included using LED/discharge lighting for the stages while eliminating unneeded lighting throughout each venue; procuring green energy as available; taking advantage of natural air circulation to reduce air conditioning; donating signs/banners for reuse (e.g., in South Africa, banners went to a rural township to make sunshades for school playgrounds); using biodegradable plastics/recyclables at concessions and tailoring menus to reduce packaging; booking local/regional artists and those on tour to reduce airline travel and encouraging artists to fly commercial (all told, less than 1% traveled on private charter planes); using alternative-fuel buses/tour vehicles and fuel-efficient cars; encouraging attendees to use mass transit and carpooling (e.g., in Hamburg and Sydney, fare for public transportation was included in the concert ticket price; through a partnership with Evite, local carpools were facilitated online).

On June 26, after most strategies had been planned and put into place, Live Earth produced a final pre-event estimate of 18,526 metric tons of carbon emissions. After the event, Live Earth completed a carbon assessment following the principles set forth in The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, calculating gross carbon emissions both for the concert day itself and throughout its ten-month planning and execution process.

The greatest area of carbon emissions was audience travel where, typical for live events, a great majority (87%) of emissions were generated by almost one million people who attended the concerts in person. Attendees nonetheless heeded the show's message. In Shanghai and Tokyo, more than three-fourths of the audience rode public transportation. Even in the New York region, an unprecedented 23% of attendees rode trains and buses to the venue, thanks to a strong partnership with local transit authorities. While 99% of its musical artists chose commercial airlines for required flight, for ground transportation of artists, Live Earth partnered with Smart car for a fleet of vehicles, and economical Bluetec and E-Class Mercedes fueled exclusively by biodiesel and ultra-low-sulfur diesel.

Live Earth also generated an estimated 97 metric tons of waste. Appx. 79 tons (81%) was diverted from landfills through recycling and composting, with Tokyo reaching 99%. Even in the city generating the most waste, New York, only 6.2 tons went to landfills of 25.9 tons created, marking a 76% diversion rate. With the most significant component of waste related to food/refreshments concessions, a corps of Live Earth volunteers and staff supervised collection stations at most concerts, ensuring that recyclables were sorted apart from organic compostable material and trash, with strong cooperation from audiences.

On average, Live Earth's stadium shows each emitted 300-400 metric tons of carbon as a result of the events themselves. Artist/audience activities generated an additional 900-4,500 tons, varying by venue depending on the size of the audience, the availability of non-automotive transit and the catchment area of each event. For future benchmarking of live stadium events which adopt similar energy-saving measures, Live Earth suggests using 300 tons for production and 1,000 tons for audience and artist travel.

"Some say we could have done more with less, that our method was antithetical to our message. Frankly, you can only reach so many people standing around a campfire singing 'Kumba Ya,'" says Live Earth's Kevin Wall. "Our goal was to educate and inspire billions of people worldwide to take action, and while that effort generated carbon emissions on one day, those impacted by this event have been motivated to reduce their energy use every day."

As Live Earth extends its mission to raise awareness and educate the world's citizens about the climate crisis. It is currently shepherding 60 short environmental films to film festivals in the U.S. and worldwide and developing an on-campus program to educate and inspire the next generation to instill the virtue of climate protection. A DVD compilation of the Live Earth shows, and the best short-subject films, is also being released by Warner Bros. Home Video.

ABOUT LIVE EARTH

Based in Los Angeles, Live Earth is an organization that seeks to leverage the power of music and integrated entertainment to combat climate change. On July 7, 2007, Live Earth held the largest global entertainment event in history, staging simultaneous concerts in New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg and Hamburg, as well as special broadcast events in Antarctica, Kyoto and Washington, DC. The day featured more than 150 musical acts -- a mix of legendary artists like The Police, Genesis, Bon Jovi and Madonna with the latest headliners like Kanye West, Kelly Clarkson, Black Eyed Peas and Jack Johnson. Through TV, radio and the Internet, the concert reached an estimated two billion people.

Live Earth's 24 hours of music across seven continents delivered a worldwide call to action and the solutions necessary to answer that call. With this maiden event, Live Earth has launched a multi-year campaign to drive individuals, corporations and governments to take action to solve the climate crisis. Live Earth is partnered with former Vice President and recent Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore and his Alliance for Climate Protection. Live Earth was founded by Kevin Wall, CEO of Control Room, the company that produced the concerts globally.

Exclusive online media partner MSN is helping Live Earth reach people in every corner of the globe. Official Live Earth concerts were streamed live at http://liveearth.msn.com/. MSN's 39 localized web portals worldwide attract 465 million monthly users.

smart is the world's only automaker serving as an Official Partner. Unlike any other vehicle, the new smart fortwo combines a modern, individual lifestyle with environmental protection by setting the standard in urban mobility and offering the lowest CO2 emission of any vehicle on the market. smart responds to environmental demands with innovative, technologically sound solutions and as a result produces positive and credible answers to the question of ecological driving.

Philips, as the world's leading lighting supplier, joined Live Earth as an Official Partner. Philips was the first to introduce the energy saving light bulb in 1980 and has put environmental product improvement at the heart of its business with its EcoDesign program since 1994, increasing its green product range year by year.

Stonyfield Farm, an official partner of Live Earth, is the world's leading organic yogurt maker. Stonyfield donates 10 percent of its profits to environmental causes; was America's first manufacturer to offset 100 percent of its CO2 emissions from its facility energy use; and recently installed the largest solar array in New Hampshire to help power its production plant -- all efforts to reduce global warming. It has also launched Climate Counts, a non-profit bringing consumer and companies together in the fight against climate change. Climate Counts scores well-known companies to help consumers buy and invest from companies that take climate change seriously.

Live Earth partnered with companies on a local level who share the commitment to helping people live a more energy efficient lifestyle. PepsiCo, an Official Partner of Live Earth, is committed to making a difference with eco-friendlier packaging, energy and water conservation and waste reduction. It's all part of PepsiCo's commitment to Performance with Purpose -- to do better by doing better. Esurance, the direct-to-consumer personal auto insurance company, joined Live Earth as an Official Sponsor and is the latest extension of Esurance's efforts to conserve energy and preserve the planet's precious resources. For more than seven years, Esurance policyholders have helped save thousands of trees by buying their auto insurance online and using electronic documents. An official partner of Live Earth, The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc., a subsidiary of V&S Group, produces and markets Absolut(R) Vodka, Level(TM) Vodka, Fris(R) Vodka, Plymouth(TM) Gin and Cruzan(R) Rum. The Absolut Spirits Company focuses on reducing the impact on climate change, sustainable agriculture and optimizing use of natural resources as mandated by V&S Group. To view details on the company's efforts to combat global warming, visit http://www.vsgroup.com/ and click on "Corporate Responsibility/Environment." Intelsat, the leading provider of fixed satellite services worldwide, is the official satellite capacity sponsor to Live Earth, providing the global high definition infrastructure for an unforgettable viewer experience. Intelsat connects the planet to Live Earth through its network of 52 satellites and global terrestrial facilities.

For more information, visit http://liveearth.org/ or http://liveearth.msn.com/.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Live Earth

CONTACT: Liz Jaeger, ljaeger@bwr-la.com, or Erin Kelly,
ekelly@bwr-la.com, both for Live Earth, +1-310-550-7776

Web site: http://liveearth.org/
http://liveearth.msn.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment