Coldplay respond to being called “useful idiots for greenwashing”
nme.comColdplay have reacted to a claim that they’re being used as “useful idiots for greenwashing” while they pursue their eco-friendly ‘Music Of The Spheres’ world tour.The band’s plan to minimise their and their fans’ carbon footprint has been welcomed, although criticism has surfaced regarding companies that they’ve partnered with for help.Last week Coldplay announced a partnership with Finnish oil company Neste to cut their touring emissions by half.
Neste claims to be the world’s largest producer of sustainable biofuels but the firm’s palm oil suppliers cleared at least 24,710 acres of forest in countries including Indonesia and Malaysia between 2019 and 2020 [via Friends Of The Earth].Carlos Calvo Ambel, a senior director of the Transport and Environment campaign group (T&E) said: “Neste is cynically using Coldplay to greenwash its reputation.“This is a company that is linked to the kind of deforestation that would appal Chris Martin and his fans.
It’s not too late, they should drop their partnership with Neste now and focus on truly clean solutions instead.”Coldplay provided a statement in response to the criticism. “When we announced this tour, we said that we would try our best to make it as sustainable and low carbon-impact as possible, but that it would be a work in progress.
That remains true. We don’t claim to have got it all right yet,” they said.“Before we appointed Neste as supplier of these biofuel products, we received their guarantee that they do not use any virgin materials in their production – most especially not palm oil.
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