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Live Earth
The Live Earth logo representing the "S.O.S." message.
GenrePop, Rock music
DatesJuly 7, 2007
Location(s)Sydney Football Stadium, Coca Cola Dome, Giants Stadium, Copacabana Beach, Rothera Research Station, Makuhari Messe, Tō-ji, Oriental Pearl Tower, Wembley Stadium, HSH Nordbank Arena, National Mall
Years active2007
FoundersAl Gore, Kevin Wall
Websitewww.liveearth.org

Live Earth was a series of worldwide concerts held on July 7, 2007, that initiated a three-year campaign to combat climate change and advocate environmentally-sustainable living. The concerts brought together more than 150 musical acts in eleven locations around the world and were broadcast to a mass global audience through radio, television, and the Internet.

The umbrella organization for the event was Save Our Selves, founded by Kevin Wall (Executive Producer), and included major partners such as former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, the Alliance for Climate Protection, MSN, and Control Room, the production company which produced the event. The logo for the event was the Morse code distress signal. The worldwide producer of talent and programming for all of the events was Aaron Grosky. The worldwide producer events was Lily Sobhani. Unlike the similar Live 8 concerts, which were free, Live Earth charged admission but the event was made broadly available via television and the Internet.

The event claims to have been the largest global entertainment event ever held, reaching an estimated audience of 2 billion people world-wide.[1] It also set a new record for online entertainment with over 15 million video streams during the live concert alone.[1] Television ratings were mixed, with 41% of households in Canada watching the concerts,[1] while figures in the UK were characterized as a "flop".[2] Television ratings in the United States were "dismal" as well, NBC's broadcast of Live Earth was the least watched network program between the Big Three Television Networks and Fox.[3]

Background

Live Earth-initiator Al Gore giving a global warming talk on 7 April 2006

The plans for the Live Earth concerts were announced at a media event in Los Angeles on February 15, 2007 by Al Gore and other celebrities.[4] The inspiration for promoting the cause using benefit concerts comes from many similar events over the past 25 years including the 1985 Live Aid concerts and the 2005 Live 8 concerts and it was to be the longest show ever to be recorded in the world records. The event was claimed to be carbon neutral, and organizers said they would purchase carbon credits to offset the environmental impact of the flights associated with the events.[5]

In addition to raising awareness of global warming,[6] on June 28 2007, it was revealed that Live Earth is to be the launch event for the Live Earth Call to Action.[7] During the concerts people were asked to support the following 7-point pledge:[7]

  1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;
  2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become 'carbon neutral;'
  3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;
  4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;
  5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;
  6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,
  7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.

In subsequent interviews Al Gore indicated that the concerts would mark 'the beginning of a three-year campaign worldwide to deliver information about how we solve the climate crisis'[8][9] and that 'the prospects for every future generation depend on us understanding, hearing and acting upon this information.'[8][10]

Live Earth's supporters included climate change activists in New Zealand's Climaction Coalition, who praised concert organizers, stating "Climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity today."[11] Climaction spokesperson David Colyer said the concert presented "a great opportunity to join our voices with theirs" and called on people who could not attend a concert to participate in local events to raise awareness about climate change.

Further information on the issues raised by the concerts are published in The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook, written by environmentalist David Mayer de Rothschild.[12][13] Profits from the book will be donated to the Alliance for Climate Protection, as will some of the profits from the concerts.[14]

Inspiration for the style of concerts

The concert stage at Wembley Stadium.

The concert series drew inspiration from many benefit events staged in the past three decades:[15]

Friends of Live Earth

Over 10,000 "Friends of Live Earth" events and house parties were held in 195 countries.

  • Live Earth Alert, was a Netherlands contribution/concept,[18] to the real program Live Earth on 07/07/07. In Westerpark in Amsterdam (NL) a parallel event had been organised which included a continuous 24 hour live broadcast program on Nederland 3 of live streams (in sequential order) from Live Earth events and reports from Dutch correspondents stationed on all 7 continents as well as an almost 12 hour side event at the home location with performances, artists and other side activities. Some parts of this Dutch program were included in the official Live Earth streams and broadcast worldwide.[19]

Locations

The organizers intended to present concerts on all seven continents. They stated that the venues would utilize on-site power generation, efficient methods of energy utilization and sustainable facilities management in an effort to minimize environmental impact.

Venues locations.
Venues locations.
Africa
Coca Cola Dome Randburg near Johannesburg  South Africa
North America
Giants Stadium East Rutherford near New York City  United States
National Mall 1 Washington, D.C.[20]  United States
South America
Copacabana Beach Rio de Janeiro  Brazil
Asia
Makuhari Messe Chiba near Tokyo  Japan
Tō-ji Kyoto  Japan
Oriental Pearl Tower Shanghai  China
Oceania
Sydney Football Stadium Sydney  Australia
Europe
Wembley Stadium London  United Kingdom
HSH Nordbank Arena Hamburg  Germany
Antarctica
Rothera Research Station British Antarctic Territory  British Antarctic Territory
1 i.c. premises/venue of Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

Cancellations

A concert for Istanbul was called off, the local organizer said, for lack of government and private sponsorship. "Live Earth Istanbul failed to be a priority ... because our country is in an election marathon and due to fears of terrorism and security risks," said Purple Concerts, which will erect screens around Istanbul to show the concerts in other cities, spokeswoman Funda Dusgor said.[21] Just days before the event, the concert in Rio de Janeiro was reportedly canceled because of a lack of security for the concert, but was later revived.[22]

Washington D.C. venue

It was only hours before the Washington D.C. concert was scheduled to begin that organizers were able to secure a venue for the last-minute addition to the schedule. The Washington Post reported the U.S. capital had been Gore's first choice for the main concert. However, the main concert was moved to New Jersey and Gore made a surprise announcement during a July 6 media interview that a concert would take place on the plaza of the Museum of the American Indian. "Some who don't understand what is now at stake tried to stop this event on the Mall, but here we are. [crowd is cheering] And it wasn't the cavalry who came to our rescue, it was the American Indians," Gore said during brief opening remarks carried live on the MSN website.[23]

Performers

Audience

On July 23, 2007, SOS announced that Live Earth had been the largest global entertainment event ever held, reaching an estimated audience of 2 billion people world-wide.[1] The concerts were broadcast in over 130 countries by more than 500 media partners including television, radio, Internet and wireless channels. National television viewing figures included 19 million viewers in the US, 41% of all housholds in Canada, 37% of all households in Brazil, and 20% in Germany.[1]

The event also attracted a record online audience. Live coverage attracted over 8 million people who watched over 15 million video streams, while total 55 million video streams had been watched by July 23.[1]

United Kingdom

London's Wembley Stadium production of "Live Earth," received poor viewing figures on the BBC Network, blamed on a good weather Saturday afternoon, in addition to the network's tennis coverage at Wimbledon. BBC's live afternoon coverage of the concert drew an average of about 900,000 viewers while the evening viewing figures averaged around 3.1 million[29] and the highlight figures, near the end of the concert, were around 4.5 million. Three times as many viewers had watched the Concert for Diana six days earlier[29] and 9.6 million viewers had watched the Live 8 concert, two years earlier.

Controversies and criticism

While garnering favorable comments, several aspects of the event drew criticism from various perspectives.

Political motives and campaigning

Further information: [[:Al Gore controversies]]

Some Republicans have criticized Al Gore for organizing the event, and said he did so to promote himself for a 2008 U.S. Presidential election bid, although Gore has said repeatedly he is "not planning to be a candidate again for office"[30] and has said that he "had fallen out of love with politics."[31] The event has also been called "Gore Aid"[32][33][34] by online political newsletters.

Environmental harm

Bands including The Who, Muse and the Arctic Monkeys dubbed Live Earth "Private Jets for Climate Change."[35] The event's total carbon footprint, including the artists' and spectators' travel and energy consumption, was probably at least 74,500 tonnes, according to John Buckley of CarbonFootPrint.com - more than 3,000 times the average Briton's annual footprint.[36] Performers flew at least 222,623.63 miles (about 358,278 km) — the equivalent of nearly nine times round the planet — to take part in the event, and this figure does not include transport of technicians, dancers and support staff. [37] An estimate reported that 100,000 planted trees are required to offset total carbon emissions produced during the entire event, as well as a key sponsor for the event being Chevrolet, promoting a new hybrid four-wheel drive.[38]

DaimlerChrysler used its low-emissions Smart car brand while sponsoring the event worldwide.

Concert-goers at the event’s London leg had left thousands of plastic cups on the floor of Wembley Stadium, although organizers had urged audience members to use the recycling bins provided, the BBC reported. [39]

Al Gore was unhappy with the travel arrangements of the UK band Razorlight. After their appearance at the London Live Earth event, they were ferried to an airport in a large tour bus with a police escort to catch a private jet to Scotland. From the airport in Scotland they travelled by helicopter to Balado to perform at another event. Razorlight claimed they would offset their emissions by planting trees.[40]

Singer-songwriter John Mayer, one of the big attractions at the New Jersey/New York concert had not signed Gore's seven-point Live Earth pledge. "If you want to peg me as not being entirely eco-friendly, you'll win," Mayer told reporters after his set. "We're just getting together saying 'We want to be healthier'.” [41]

Bob Geldof and Live 8

Before the goals of the concerts were announced on June 28, the concert was criticized by Live Aid organizer Bob Geldof and Roger Daltrey of The Who about a lack of a final goal. Geldof said in an interview on May 15 2007, that the concerts are a waste of time because "Everybody's known about [global warming] for years."[42] Geldof said he would organize a concert like Live Earth only if he "could go on stage and announce concrete environmental measures from the American presidential candidates, Congress, or major corporations." Daltrey said "The last thing the planet needs is a rock concert ... the questions and the answers are so huge I don't know what a rock concert's ever going to do to help."[43]

A spokesman for Live Earth responded to Geldof, saying that the concerts were intended to raise awareness about the dangers of climate change. "People are aware of global warming but millions are not doing anything about changing their lifestyles."[44] Al Gore said "What Bob Geldof did with Live Aid and Live 8 was fantastic and he has followed up very diligently. [Geldof] has said ... how important it is to have specific goals and a continuing follow-on effort, and we have designed the Live Earth concerts in just that way."[45] Gore continued, “This one day, 24 hours long, will not only be a wake-up call for the world but the beginning of a multi-year campaign to organize an effective response to the climate crisis.” [46]

BBC coverage of the London venue

The BBC received 413 complaints because coverage of Metallica's live set was cut short, and over 130 complaints concerning swearing[29] as the BBC had shown the concert before the watershed time of 9pm, this includes Chris Rock jokingly calling the crowd "motherfuckers".[47] Presenter Jonathan Ross praised performances that did not actually get shown to the TV audience.[48] The BBC later apologised for cutting away from footage of Metallica,[49] and both during and after the concert for the bad language.[29] The BBC also angered many viewers by cutting away from Wembley Stadium performances by the Beastie Boys and Spinal Tap (who had reformed especialy for the event) to show prerecorded performances of Rihanna and Shakira respectively. This was made even more frustrating when the same footage of Rihanna performing "S.O.S." was shown as part of BBC1's extended highlights package that was shown once the Wembley concert had finished.

Financial lack of transparency

Intelligent Giving have attempted to find out what was happening to the proceeds from ticket sales at the concerts. Their conclusions, published in a feature "What on (Live) Earth is going on?" were that no one involved is capable of giving a clear answer.[50]

See also

Template:EnergyPortal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Live Earth.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Live Earth breaks world-wide audience records, Save Our Selves, published 2007-07-23, accessed 2007-08-02
  2. ^ http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2122158,00.html
  3. ^ "Power to the people". The Age. 2007-07-16. Retrieved 2007-07-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Lee, Ken. (February 15, 2007) "Al Gore, Cameron Diaz Announce Environmental Campaign." People.com. Retrieved on: August 2, 2007.
  5. ^ "Live Earth concerts are 'hot but carbon neutral'". The Daily Telegraph. 26 April 2007. Retrieved July 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Live Earth Aims to Cause Lasting Change". Washington Post. 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2007-07-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b Al Gore, Kevin Wall issue far-reaching Live Earth Call To Action, Live Earth, published 2007-06-28, accessed 2007-07-03
  8. ^ a b Live Earth a climate 'SOS', BBC, published 2007-07-03, accessed 2007-07-03
  9. ^ Moving Beyond Kyoto, New York Times, published 2007-07-01, accessed 2007-07-03
  10. ^ http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0707/05/lkl.01.html
  11. ^ "Aotearoa Live – Climate Change Day of Action". Climaction. 26 June 2007. Retrieved July 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook: 77 Essential Skills To Stop Climate Change, author: David de Rothschild, publisher: Rodale Books, ISBN 159486781X
  13. ^ Rodale Books to publish the official Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook, Live Earth, published 2006-05-16
  14. ^ Live Earth switch-off is vetoed, BBC, published 2007-06-04, accessed 2007-07-03
  15. ^ "Big show, big impact? Live Earth hopes so". USA Today. 5 July 2007. Retrieved July 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "Arise, Sir Bono! It's a beautiful day for the singer who uses his voice to help Africa". The Independent. 24 December 2006. Retrieved July 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "RA secret history of the old Ball game". The Irish Times. 20 October 2006. Retrieved July 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Live Earth Alert.nl (Template:Nl icon, partly in English)
  19. ^ BNN: Live Earth on Nederland 3 (TV) and Radio 3FM (Template:Nl, partly in English)
  20. ^ Gore gets last-minute D.C. venue for Live Earth; thanks to Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and their parallel concert-program 'Mother Earth'
  21. ^ Live Earth concerts aim to rally action against global warming
  22. ^ Rio Live Earth to go on after ban revoked
  23. ^ [1]
  24. ^ a b c Live Earth Fact Sheet
  25. ^ Yusuf (Formerly Cat Stevens), Xzibit and Kenna to Join Live Earth Line-Ups in Hamburg, Tokyo & New York
  26. ^ a b c www.liveearthhamburg.de
  27. ^ 'Live Earth' Hamburg's Special Guest: Yusuf Islam
  28. ^ Quick Hits: Britney Spears, Live Earth, Queens of the Stone Age, Ozzfest, The Cult, Travis
  29. ^ a b c d Diana ratings dwarf Live Earth, BBC, published 2007-07-09, accessed 2007-08-02
  30. ^ Gore campaigning for environment, not presidency
  31. ^ "Gore: 'I've fallen out of love with politics'", CNN, 6 July 2007
  32. ^ Mike Stark (17 February 2007). "Gore Aid". CounterPunch. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  33. ^ Doug Heye (7 July 2007). "Gore Aid?". Pajamas Media. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  34. ^ "Gore hopes his 'Live Earth' will have the same impact as Bob Dylan`s music". Zee News. 7 July 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  35. ^ "Rockin' all over the world (but just watch your carbon footprint)". The Observer. 8 July 2007. Retrieved July 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  36. ^ "Rockin' all over the world (but just watch your carbon footprint)". The Observer. 8 July 2007. Retrieved July 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ "Live Earth is promoting green to save the planet - what planet are they on?". Daily Mail. 7 July 2007. Retrieved July 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  38. ^ "Critics: Live Earth Not So Green". ABC News. 9 July 2007. Retrieved July 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  39. ^ "Live Earth gigs send eco-warning". BBC. 8 July 2007. Retrieved July 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  40. ^ Razorlight get told off by Al Gore, AngryApe
  41. ^ Earth Gets Rocked, Live at Yahoo! TV
  42. ^ Live Earth? It's a waste of time, Geldof tells Gore
  43. ^ Who c-cares about Live Earth?
  44. ^ It’ll be Live Dearth
  45. ^ Al Gore - man with a mission
  46. ^ Al Gore - man with a mission
  47. ^ Live Earth branded a foul-mouthed flop - Daily Mail, 9th July 2007
  48. ^ "Live Earth ratings dwarfed by Diana concert". NME. 9 July 2007. Retrieved July 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  49. ^ [2]
  50. ^ [3]

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