German logistics company DHL has partnered up with Coldplay, a popular British rock band, to cut down emissions on the latter’s Music of the Spheres world tour. DHL will help Coldplay reduce its carbon footprint during all logistics activities by more than 50%. Let’s take a look at how the German company plans to achieve this.
Monika Schaller, Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications, Sustainability & Brand, Deutsche Post DHL Group, said,
“As leaders in our industries, it is our responsibility to lead the change but also inspire and facilitate sustainable solutions for other businesses and brands. We feel honored and proud that Coldplay has selected DHL to embark on this journey for change.”
The complex logistics of a world tour
Planning a world music tour is no easy task, but arranging logistics support for all the people and equipment involved is the most complex part. Coldplay’s desire to make the tour sustainable and reduce emissions by more than 50% has only added to the complexity. However, shipping giant DHL has come to the rescue with its GoGreen Plus initiative.
GoGreen Plus offers a suite of sustainable alternatives to traditional logistics services. This includes everything from using Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) for air transport, electric vehicles for ground transport, and cleaner infrastructure for storage and warehousing.
Emissions slashed by 50%
While announcing the “Music of the Spheres” tour in October last year, Coldplay committed to reducing its carbon footprint by half compared to its previous tour, which covered over 90 cities around the globe over a period of 21 months. In comparison, the latest world tour covers less than 30 global destinations in merely nine months.
Coldplay’s co-manager, Phil Harvey, said,
“When we announced this tour, we pledged to reduce primary carbon emissions by more than 50% compared to the last tour. This can only happen with tour partners who share this vision and are willing to invest the necessary resources to make it happen. We’re grateful to DHL for their help in minimizing our tour’s freight emissions through their expertise and investment in sustainable logistics.”
Despite the cut-down itinerary, reducing emissions on such a large scale has required several aspects of DHL’s expertise.
DHL’s sustainable push
DHL has long been advocating for sustainable practices in the shipping industry and has set an example by leading from the front. The company admits that 90% of all its emissions come from air freight operations. It plans on reducing that figure by steadily increasing the use of SAFs over the coming years. Currently, the company aims to run its fleet of air freighters at 30% or more SAF blending by 2030.
DHL plans on becoming a net-zero emissions company by 2050. This will take a lot of work, considering the fact that DHL’s carbon footprint stood at a whopping 33.3 million tonnes in 2020. It will be interesting to see how the cargo carrier progresses on its ambitious goals.