UNITED KINGDOM: The organiser for Live Earth Kevin Wall talks about how the seven-continent show will be eco-friendly

The storm clouds gathered over London's Wembley Stadium - the climate making its presence felt - as preparations for the Live Earth event gathered pace. The organisers hope two billion people will watch a series of concerts around the world designed to focus their attention on the threat of global warming. As well as tackling the issue of climate change - the Live Earth promoters also have to deal with the inconvenient truth that the event will generate a lot of pollution. Comparable concerts have produced up to 4000 tonnes of greenhouse gases - equivalent to the annual emissions of 200 U.S. citizens or 800 Chinese. Live Earth co-founder Kevin Wall, whose track record includes organising Bob Geldof's Live8 event, said they aim to cut that pollution by about a quarter and offset the rest by investing in green energy projects. "We're greening the stadiums, we're buying green power, we're using biodiesel for the show. We're trying to keep as small a carbon footprint as possible in this. That's why most of the artists that we've booked are touring artists, they're already touring, we haven't changed the way they are moving around," he said. Madonna, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Razorlight are among the acts at Wembley Stadium. The concerts, organised by former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, will also be staged in Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro and New Jersey. He added: "We're asking these rock stars, we're asking these corporations we're asking consumers people sitting in your audience to change now. Change their behaviour now going forward. We're not going to stop concerts, not going to stop football games. There's 3,000 concerts that happen a year. But you're going to see massive change now in the way people have committed, these rock stars not only in giving their voice, but in their own lifestyles, changes they're starting to make," said Wall. But other environment campaigners, while welcoming the publicity Live Earth may generate - are wary of the apparent contradiction of pop stars with their jet set lifestyles appearing to preach about going green. "You've just got to think a little bit about whether pop stars are the right people to be spreading the message. Because obviously they themselves have quite affluent lifestyles. A lot of them have several cars, several houses and they are really known for having a low carbon emission lifestyle," said Jeff Buckley of British consultancy agency carbonfootprint.com. Live Earth's organisers say they want anyone performing in these concerts or watching them to sign a 7 point pledge, committing them to maker their lifestyles greener.

ITN Source | July 12, 2007

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