A vision of a greener Fête: a chance for a new beginning

a-greener-fete-pic-by-pixabay

When the world locked down, some people spoke of a chance for a new beginning.

We were all forced to stop, take a breath (a long one) and reconsider the world, and how we – individually and as a society – make our way in and  through it.

Now, a year later, as the prospect of things opening up again rears its head; as we dare to hope that soon this will all be behind us; it seems that for many people, institutions and industries, that brief idea of embracing the possibility of starting afresh – of restarting better – has slipped away.

Still there are many others of us who welcome this chance of facing problems – problems that were even before the pandemic becoming harder and harder to ignore – head on.

While the rush for a Covid vaccine, and other aspects of dealing with a worldwide pandemic, has pushed climate change to the side, now it’s the ideal time for us to “build back better”.

The Fete team got together with a few other interested parties and hammered out their very own Green New Deal, with a list of strategic goals laid out and committed to

When talking about climate change and pointing fingers at the industries that are the easiest scapegoats – cars, the increase of SUVs, oil generally, air transport and the rest – it’s too easy for the live event industry, and the live music industry, to pretend that we don’t also have a part to play.

“tons of CO2 emitted by the entire UK music industry per year, live performance venues and festivals alone cause at least 400,000 tons of annual CO2 emissions, not to mention the amount of energy consumed. 175,000 of the 400,000 tons of annual CO2 emissions are derived from audience transportation to the shows.” – http://www.thembj.org/2010/11/co2-emissions-in-the-music-industry/

And of course the FETEBerlin team, in preparing for the Fete 2021, knew that this was a great time to take its own strides in that direction.

  • Watch this space for our upcoming series of articles about how to put on events with a focus on sustainability and environmental protection, with subjects including energy and electricity, mobility, waste and resources, water and santiation and more.

Hence the Green New Deal: Under the banner of “A Greener Fete de la Musique”, the Fete team got together with a few other interested parties and hammered out their very own Green New Deal, with a list of strategic goals laid out and committed to.

In fact as early as 2019, the project “Greener Fete” has been going on, together with Jacob Bilabel, the founder of the Green Music Initative, Dr.-Ing. Birte Jung in her position as expert for sustainable events in the public space, and the stage organisers that make the Fete happen each year. And so the FDLM has committed to being a pioneer in the implementation of local, national and international climate targets.

Some of the points that the signatories* have agreed on include:

  • Making the Fete climate-neutral by 2030
  • A reduction in energy usage to the tune of 20-25% over the next 5 years
  • Doubling the resource efficiency of the FDLM in the next 5 years
  • Communicating the topics of sustainability, climate and environment protection within the context of the FDLM
  • Training up a Greener FDLM ambassador
  • And more…

The FDLM has committed to being a pioneer in the implementation of local, national and international climate targets

Furthermore, already in 2021 we are aiming to implement a range of improvements: from reducing our own water and electricity use, to promoting alternative / emission-free logistical transport for the Fete; from working to drastically increase the use of reusable food and drink containers to increasing awareness and understanding of running events with an eye on sustainability in our wonderful community of independent stage organisers…we’re excited to be able to make a contribution.

*Signatories to these commitments include:

Dr. Klaus Lederer (Senatskanzlei)

Katja Lucker (Musicboard Berlin)

Dr. Birte Jung

Jacob Bilabel (Green Music Initative)

Björn Döring (FDLM Berlin)

Watch this space for our upcoming series of articles about how to put on events with a focus on sustainability and environmental protection, with subjects including energy and electricity, mobility, waste and resources, water and santiation and more.

Main photo by Pixabay via Pexels