Coldplay say they WON’T tour new album in bid to go ‘carbon neutral’ – before flying to Jordan for album launch show
COLDPLAY frontman Chris Martin has flown to the Middle East to reveal the band will not be touring their new album in order to remain as carbon neutral as possible.
The singer admitted the band are hoping to have a “positive impact” on the world and to spend time working out how touring can be “actively beneficial”.
Chris, 42, told the BBC: “We’re not touring this album.
“We’re taking time over the next year or two, to work out how our tour can not only be sustainable [but] how can it be actively beneficial.
“All of us have to work out the best way of doing our job.”
However, he came under fire for making the announcement after flying from the UK to Jordan where the band will launch new album Everyday Life two live-streamed gigs tomorrow.
One bemused fan noted: “I would have greeted Coldplay stopping touring, as it’s bad for the environment, with less cynicism if they hadn’t made the announcement in Jordan… which they flew to for a one-off event.”
“Chris Martin gets on a plane (probably 2) to explain he’s not going on tour again to save the earth,” added another.
Another joked: “Coldplay to pause touring until concerts are ‘environmentally beneficial’ so how the hell did they get to Amman in Jordan to announced this, walk?”
Chris acknowledged: “We wanted to pick somewhere in the middle of the world where we normally don’t get to play.”
However, the band have also reportedly flown out journalists to cover the gigs taking place in Amman at sunrise and sunset to mirror the two “sides” of their new album.
Chris added the band will still be performing, and that their next tour “will be the best possible version of a tour like that environmentally”.
He said”We would be disappointed if it’s not carbon neutral.
“The hardest thing is the flying side of things. But, for example, our dream is to have a show with no single use plastic, to have it largely solar powered.”
He continued: “We’ve done a lot of big tours at this point. How do we turn it around so it’s no so much taking as giving?”
The band’s decision comes as it was claimed this year is poised to be the second-warmest year on Earth amid fears of an impending climate change catastrophe.
According to a new report, land and sea temperatures in 2019 were nearly at the highest since records began in 1880.
Hot summer weather was seen throughout much of the globe.
This included parts of the North and Western Pacific Ocean and northeastern Canada, as well as scattered through parts of the South Atlantic Ocean, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean and South America.
A heatwave is set to scorch much of Australia, with a 125-year record expected to fall in Melbourne, and 100 schools to close in South Australia.
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Coldplay have toured the world six times since they burst on to the scene in 2000 with the song Yellow.
In 2016 and 2017 they embarked on a 20-month world tour that saw them visit play 122 shows in four continents
It is thought that one long-haul flight will generate more carbon emissions than the average person in dozens of countries may produce in a whole year.