Live Earth, from Reuters
LONDON (Reuters) – The Red Hot Chili Peppers led dozens of pop stars performing at Live Earth concerts around the world on Saturday to persuade fans and governments to go green.
Crowds poured into venues in Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hamburg and Johannesburg to hear Linkin Park, Rihanna, Shakira, Crowded House, Kumi Koda and many others perform and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore call for action on climate change.
Genesis, Razorlight and Snow Patrol kicked off the event at London’s Wembley Stadium, leading a star-studded cast there including Madonna, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Spinal Tap, who will play before a less-then-capacity crowd of around 63,000.
Corinne Bailey Rae sang “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)”, Marvin Gaye’s 1971 environment classic, and sets alternated with short videos about climate change and tips on how to slow it.
Following the model of Live Aid in 1985 and Live 8 in 2005, Live Earth hopes to reach up to two billion people through radio, television and the Internet.
“As a parent I want a decent world for my kids to grow up in and if we can draw attention to this and make people start doing the things that really count … then that will do something,” Duran Duran lead singer Simon Le Bon said in London.
Gore addressed a small event in Washington, where he outlined the seven-point pledge he wants people to take, binding them to cut carbon emissions and lobby governments and employers to do more to save the planet.
“We are excited to share this historic day with some fantastic musicians who are also deeply committed to using their voices and their talents to raise awareness about the climate crisis and how to solve it,” he said.
Gore hopes the concerts will be the start of a three- to five-year campaign to promote awareness of climate change.
He wants Live Earth viewers to pressure leaders to sign a new treaty by 2009 that would cut global warming pollution by 90 percent in rich nations and more than half worldwide by 2050.
CYNICISM AND SUPPORT
There is widespread cynicism among music fans, campaigners and fellow rockers about the role of pop music, renowned for Learjets and limousines, to promote green living.
“The last thing the planet needs is a rock concert,” The Who’s Roger Daltrey said earlier this year. Bob Geldof, the man behind Live Aid and Live 8, argues the world is already aware of global warming and the event lacked a “final goal”.
But many concert goers defended the gigs.
“We could do a lot more for the environment, but I suppose we’re lazy,” teenager Robyn Raymond said in Johannesburg. “We need more things like this to make people aware.”
The Shanghai gig was seen as key to Live Earth’s success, after the International Energy Agency said China could become the top emitter of the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, as early as this year, a claim disputed by officials.
In Japan, visitors were asked how they came to the concert, whether by public transport or by car, part of an effort by organisers to limit the “carbon footprint” of Live Earth.
More concerts will be staged in New Jersey, Washington and on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach, where hundreds of thousands are expected to attend.
There will also be footage from Antarctica, where the previously unknown band Nunatak have recorded a short set. The “gig” in front of 17 fellow researchers allows Gore to keep his promise to hold concerts on seven continents on the date 7/7/7.
