Massive Attack are one of the UK’s most creative bands; their seminal 1991 album Blue Lines reinvented electronic music, mixing in elements of hip-hop, reggae, and soul; a unique Bristol sound that would go on to be dubbed trip hop. Thirty years – and five studio albums, three compilation albums, five remix albums, one soundtrack album, five EPs, eighteen singles and twenty-seven music videos – later, and Massive Attack are still a cultural force to be reckoned with, as their 2022 tour will testify to.

The band have long been focused on the environment. During their 2019 Mezzanine XXI US tour, they travelled exclusively by rail, and even considered stopping touring altogether. Instead, they teamed up with Dr Carly McLachlan of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester; the result of which is The Roadmap to Super Low Carbon Music, a blueprint for the music industry to reduce emissions. It focuses on three key areas: indoor shows, festivals and transport. For the band, it was important that they walked the walk, instead of just pontificating about the climate. As the band’s Robert “3D” Del Naja, said on stage at the Climate Action Hub: “There is a lot of hot air [talked about the climate]. In fact, there are parallel lines of hot air and emissions!”

The report cuts through the noise with a series of clear, actionable steps that bands, promoters and venues can take to curb emissions. For live venues, the report proposes a ‘plug and play’ model, where all venues use the same equipment, which would save bands from bringing their own equipment with them, thereby reducing emissions. It also says all venues should switch to energy tariffs that “directly support renewable energy projects.” Artists too, need to play a role, according to the report, making sure that emissions reductions are a central part of all decision making, from venue choice to transport mode to staffing, promotion, and audio and visual design. “Super low carbon needs to be baked into every decision,” including “routing, venues, transport modes, set, audio and visual design, staffing, and promotion,” the report notes. 

All of this is necessary if the live music sector is going to meet the Paris Agreement goals, which includes reaching zero emissions from buildings and surface travel by 2035, and to limit aviation emissions at 80 percent of 2019 levels.

As a result of the research, the band have designed six major emissions reduction modules for their 2022 tour, leading to a major UK testbed live show to show what is possible, and hopefully inspire other bands to follow suit.

Yet, as Del Naja has pointed out, the onus should be on venues as well as bands to reduce emissions. With that in mind, Massive Attack are working with Ecotricity – owned by green entrepreneur, Dale Vince – to design partnerships with a wide range of music arenas and venues – in order to create much greater renewable energy capacity for the UK grid, to help train event staff to run and generate sustainable operations, and to introduce vegan food options.

The roadmap is at once both difficult and simple, something that every music venue, promoter and band can start working towards today. And although the public has a role to play in this, Del Naja is clear where responsibility lies. “It’s now common knowledge that the entire concept of the ‘carbon footprint’ came from a fossil fuel major, to divert responsibility and culpability to the consumer,” Del Naja says. “Reaching zero carbon emissions is both complex and simple. We must keep fossil fuels in the ground, full stop.” Yet, just like in the live music sector, it will take everybody taking action to avert a major catastrophe. “But in this crisis period that’s so incredibly time sensitive, all of us have to change the way we travel, eat and power our homes, of course – but the primary responsibility lies with governments and transnational fossil fuel companies to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, to stop deforestation and meaningfully start those actions now, not in 2030, 2040, 2050 or a distant future decade that suits your profit margins.”

Asked if he is optimistic about the required changes being made, Del Naja is clear. “[I am] optimistic as opposed to confident. We can achieve huge progressions if we stop delaying, and if those with significant power – in any given sector or nation – stop acting in their own financial or political self-interest. The Paris agreement was not a “last orders” moment. It was a “the bar is closed” moment.”