Imagine. Your festival & tours in balance
Balance saves you time and money.
How does it work?
Traditionally, festivals and tours require a detailed carbon assessment; it s time consuming, complicated, painful and expensive. We have removed this problem for you.
Our system has calculated the average CO2 emissions factor per audience member
using events production data & audience transport, divided by audience size.
On average 80% of the CO2 from Greenfield festivals and large tours is created by audience transport. 20% is production. This is a accepted industry standard figure.
We recommend that the cost saving from the CO2 assessment is spent on efficiency and reductions. There is detailed advice available from reputable festival and touring assessment specialists.
(We ask you to put the extra cost on the ticket so the audience BALANCE the
festival)
A BALANCE FESTIVAL & TOUR. HOW DOES IT WORK?
- The event chooses its BALANCE Forest
- For every tonne of BALANCE from this Forest, we marry the planting of an extra sister Tree near your festival creating two festival forests.
- The tour provides expected audience numbers.
- BALANCE provides branding for the Festival publicity to communicate with maps showing the location of your Forest.
- Audiences are encouraged to use this as a facility throughout the year.
- 100% of the BALANCE cost is applied to ticket sales.
- After the event, the tour pays for the BALANCE Units (and if you like, you all can come and plant the trees with us.)
BALANCE collateral for festival marketing:
You receive a ‘BALANCE’ logo, certificate and other marketing collateral signifying your commitment to biodiversity, human rights and socioeconomic benefits for local communities with climate action.
BALANCE® is the fast, innovative, simple, cost-effective way to become BALANCED. Your festival or tour Forests are an extension of your brand and can be used for ongoing communication with audiences.
We send you a yearly report on the biodiversity benefits as they happen that you can send onto your databases.
Historically, in a previous lifetime members of the BALANCE team have planted trees for Glastonbury Festival. This was mentioned in their license application demonstrated positive local benefit.
The Scientific Methodology
HOW DOES IT WORK?
2022: Our six-point methodology authored in 2022 by three leading pioneers in climate…
2023: formally reviewed by
- Professor Peter Cox, Exeter University
- Dr Bertil Abbing, Econometrica
- Crowther Lab, Zürich
- Dr Vicky West, Woodlands Carbon Code
- Dr James Russell, Community Forest Programme
2024: following anonymous peer-review methodology published in International Journal of Sustainable Energy (a global Top 10 scientific journal)
As a result, professors at the following institutions chose our methodology as basis of their students’ PhD studies:
- Exeter University- Climate modelling
- University of Gloucestershire – Statistical analysis
- Imperial College London – Ethical Business studies
- University of Rome – Biodiversity and Social engagement modelling
At the time of writing, at least four countries are actively considering using the Balance methodology to balance their own carbon footprint within Article 6 of the IPCC Climate Negotiation.
Our six-point BALANCE® methodology
Our methodology translates to six contractual obligations that are the highest standard in the industry, and which all our planting partners must adhere to:
1. Permanence 99yr contracts vs current 40yr standard
2. Indigenous species planting Long-term natural forests
3. Annual reporting Literally see the benefits grow each year
4. Human rights Ensure socio-economic wellbeing of locals
5. Additionality addressed: Guaranteed no double-counting
6. ‘Force Majeure’ accounted for: Partners must replant in the event of natural disaster
The science behind the touring methodology
| Event size | Avg floor area (m2) | Avg # of attendees | kgCO2e venue | kgCO2e attendees | kgCO2e Artist | kgCO2e/event | tCO2e/event | kgCO2e/attendee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Festivals | 32,500 | 65,000 | 12,619 - 1% | 1,188,190 - 82% | 240,162 - 17% | 1,440,971 - 100% | 1,441 | 23 |
| Stadiums | 37,500 | 75,000 | 14,560 - 1% | 1,392,049 - 82% | 281,322 - 17% | 1,687,931 - 100% | 1,688 | 23 |
| Amphitheatres | 8,750 | 17,500 | 3,398 - 1% | 324,812 - 82% | 65,642 - 17% | 393,852 - 100% | 394 | 23 |
| Arenas | 6,250 | 12,500 | 2,427 - 1% | 232,009 - 82% | 46,887 - 17% | 281,322 - 100% | 281 | 23 |
| Large Venues | 1,500 | 3,000 | 355 - 1% | 55,682 - 83% | 11,207 - 17% | 67,244 - 100% | 67 | 23 |
| Medium Venues | 350 | 700 | 83 - 1% | 10,643 - 83% | 2,145 - 17% | 12,871 - 100% | 13 | 19 |
| Small Venues | 112.5 | 225 | 27 - 5% | 455 - 79% | 96 - 17% | 578 - 100% | 1 | 3 |
Calculation by Ecometrica: ecometrica.com. BALANCE Partner organisation.
Balance my festival or tour: Ecometrica use fire safety regulations to establish maximum venue attendance.
