The JOURNEY TO “A GREENER FUTURE”
A Greener Festival begins life as “A Greener Future”.
As a not-for-profit, AGF has spent nearly two decades pouring all they have into the sustainability of the live sector after starting life as a research project by Co Founder Claire O’Neill in 2005. They have greatly impacted the global music festival scene, with the world’s first event sustainability standard – The Greener Festival Awards. The Greener Festival Award has been used all around the world by hundreds of music festivals such as Roskilde (DK); Glastonbury Festival (UK), Sziget Festival (HU), Primavera Sound (ES) and Bonnaroo (US), Rainbow Serpent (AU) to name a few.
In 2016 AGF consultancy and CO2 analysis began along with their Sustainable Event Management and Assessor training. In 2017, AGF expanded this to organisation and team training and online training with Falmouth University. The Greener Event certification launched including other event types such as the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and later the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant, business events and conferences. Around this time, our certification and on-site assessor audits became a tool for local authorities to ensure festivals are reaching the required standards for sustainability in cities such as Amsterdam and Utrecht.
Working directly with artists, agents, and managers in 2019, AGF launched the Green Artist Rider with Coda Agency (subsequently Paradigm, now Wasserman). Their work expanded into the sports sector with Threshold Events, Limelight Sports, and Bath Half Marathon being some of the first to use training, consultancy, and certification, respectively. The following year, AGF consolidated their position as a leading authority in sustainability and event management by achieving HESA (UK Government) recognition as an accreditor of university and professional courses in the area.
Continuing to branch into the full-event ecosystem, piecing the puzzle together, 2020 saw the launch of the Greener Arena and Venue schemes, with iconic names such as OVO Hydro, The O2, OVO Wembley Arena, and Forest Green Rovers F.C. being the first to attain certification.
In 2021, A Greener Tour began, with Bring Me The Horizon as an early adopter, who reduced emissions by nearly 40% on the road in the world’s first post-pandemic arena tour. With artists, tours, venues, events, festivals, and education, Greener Supplier certification has naturally followed, as the lifeblood and “boots on the ground” of the sector.
AGF’s flagship event The Green Events & Innovations conference celebrated its 15th edition in 2023 and was a sold-out success. The event is the foremost conference for sustainable events and features over 350 delegates and heavyweight speakers, innovators and industry leaders in the global live music, sports and event sector.
With this wealth of experience, growing team, and international network of sustainable event specialists, AGF now provides sustainability directors, managers, and staff to events, including HM the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant, AEG Presents, and Concert for Earth in 2022. Added to the suite of support services are Biodiversity Impact Assessments, Investment Grade Energy Audits, and Life Cycle Analysis, to name a few.
In what remains of this pivotal decade, AGF will guide the sector through its net-zero journey and responsibilities. Their unique vantage point and experience places them at the heart of this transition for the sector, as actions and responsibilities are mapped that are fair, effective, and necessary.
The AGF story reflects the evolution of sustainability in the events and entertainment sector and in society at large. It’s no longer a niche – a nice thing to do – it’s an all-encompassing direction of travel where all of the pieces are starting to (and have to) fit together for a greener future for us all. Anything else, quite frankly, is madness.