When asked to think of the legendary rock group Pearl Jam, the first image to come to mind is likely the band on stage but Pearl Jam is more than a band. As a company, Pearl Jam moves tons of equipment and people around the globe and stand up and tear down events for tens of thousands of people in a day. In 2003, Pearl Jam began looking at how to track and mitigate its large touring carbon footprint. Since then, the band has made investments totaling over $1 million dollars to offset carbon emissions from touring, putting its money behind the philosophy that private business must acknowledge its role in climate change and voluntarily and substantially invest to accelerate the world’s shift to a renewable economic system.
In continuing their ongoing commitment to acknowledge and address the band’s carbon footprint, Pearl Jam committed to paying $200 per ton of CO2 as its minimum continuing baseline for its Gigaton tour. Globally, the carbon offset market varies widely, with the average falling into $1-15 per ton.
“We are not going to move to a carbon-neutral economy without a massive shift in priorities and behavior. We need huge amounts of capital to innovate, invest, and problem solve to create brand new systems, and we need those investments to be smart and persistent,” says rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard. “By committing to this aggressive pricing, we hope to amplify our efforts tenfold, highlight the most compelling avenues for carbon sequestration, mitigation, and reduction, and hopefully gather many partners who share our urgency to make the enormous efforts and innovations required to move our world to a carbon balanced and more conscious economy.”
Though big rock tours have significant impacts and will continue to do so until electric trucks and aviation become commonplace, Pearl Jam believes the most promising route to change is to continue to do business while investing capital in different strategies to reduce C02 emissions. Recognizing there is not one silver bullet, the funds from the Gigaton tour will support a layered approach.
The portfolio runs the gamut from sustainable fuels to rainforest protection to photovoltaic technology. Through public awareness, Pearl Jam hopes to inspire other businesses and individuals to respond to climate change individually and wherever possible, collectively investigating and investing in carbon-reducing and mitigating technology, and to do so at a meaningful level.
