MUMBAI: Leading sports and entertainment presenters AEG today announced a strategic partnership with Reverb, an environmental nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive, custom greening programs for the music industry while conducting grass-roots outreach and education with fans around the globe. Together, the AEG 1EARTH program and Reverb will partner on research to quantify the impact of live concerts and events while also developing resources that will help educate tour managers and producers about simple actions they can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and water and energy usage.
In support of this partnership, AEG divisions such as AEG Live (world’s second largest concert promotions organization), AEG Facilities (operators of more than 100 venues) and AEG 1EARTH will also join the Green Music Group coalition founded by Reverb to promote large-scale greening in the music community.
“We in the music industry have a tremendous opportunity to improve our environmental impact through common standards and guidelines as well as shared information and best practices,” said Adam Gardner, Reverb co-founder. “This partnership not only underscores the commitment of the AEG 1EARTH program and their live concert division, AEG Live, but because of their expertise in facilities management, live entertainment, sports management and programming, they are well-positioned to encourage others in the industry to do the same.”
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AEG 1EARTH and Reverb will co-develop a research-based Live Event Impact analysis with a newly developed framework and metrics to capture the energy and waste impact of live events and set benchmarks for quantifying improvement. This analysis will be conducted over the course of the 2011 Live Music touring schedule and will include on-site consulting with venue operations managers as well as independent verification.
“We believe we have a responsibility to address the environmental impact of our live events and, partnering with Reverb, feel we have the opportunity to not only implement tools and strategies that reflect this but also encourage the entire industry to tackle in concrete ways,” said Randy Phillips, president and CEO of AEG Live.
In addition, AEG 1EARTH and Reverb will conduct educational greening sessions at select AEG owned or operated venues and with AEG Live promoters to develop a toolkit of actionable sustainability opportunities to minimize the impact of Live Music operations. To further this goal, AEG will also collaborate with the Green Music Group to develop industry wide greening guidelines and standards.
“As a founding member of Green Music Group, I am excited to see industry leaders such as AEG joining the effort to change the environmental impact of the music community,” said Stefan Lessard, bassist of Dave Matthews Band. “It is key to have everyone working together to achieve maximum results.”
In November, 2010, AEG launched its AEG 1EARTH program, sustainability report – an industry first –and commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste and water usage at all of its owned and managed facilities worldwide, including STAPLES Center, Nokia Theatre, L.A. LIVE, The Home Depot Center and Ontario’s Citizens Business Bank Arena, by at least 20 percent by 2020.
“We have set ambitious goals to reduce waste and improve energy efficiency by 2020,” said Jennifer Regan, Global Sustainability Director, AEG. “In order to reach these goals, it will be critical that we collaborate with people and organizations that are on the cutting edge of bringing sustainability solutions mainstream. Working with Reverb and the Green Music Group will allow us to strengthen our environmental performance in tangible ways.”
To kick off this partnership Reverb will be helping support local volunteer opportunities for AEG employees and communities for Earth Day in over 15 major markets. In addition, AEG and L.A. LIVE will be hosting an environmental fair from noon to 5p.m. PDT on Friday, April 22, at the L.A. LIVE sports and entertainment district anchored by STAPLES Center and Nokia Theatre.
