How betternotstop are Working Towards The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

June 24, 2022

As you know by now, here at betternotstop we really love shouting about businesses who are doing it right. 

So we decided to explore how sustainable the UK music festival industry really is and find those festivals who are leading the charge in creating positive social and environmental impact in their local communities. 

What is the It’s More Than Music report? 

Jam packed with information, the betternotstop report explores the social and environmental policies of 100 UK music festivals. 

We chose a sample of 100 UK music festivals - ranging from large greenfield events and smaller, local festivals - and used their publicly available information* to collect data about three main categories: their sustainability policy, social impact, and carbon balancing measures. 

What did we find out? 

Most shockingly, our research found that only a quarter of the 100 UK music festivals surveyed have public commitments to a sustainability policy, charity donations AND carbon balancing measures. 

This was really surprising because we know that festival go-ers are concerned about their own impact at festivals. Six out of ten say that it’s important that music festivals work to reduce their waste and nearly half of millennials think the primary objective of a business should be contributing positively to society (social and environmental).

We also found that:

  1. Less than half of festivals surveyed have a publicly available sustainability impact policy
  2. Fewer than two thirds are delivering any form of social impact 
  3. And only 45 % of music festivals surveyed have carbon offsetting measures in place 

 

Why did we write It’s More Than Music? 

Before we started writing the report, we were curious about whether music festivals were actively trying to improve their contributions towards social and environmental impact. 

Since writing the report, we can confirm - they are! 

We want to showcase the amazing work the music festival sector is already doing, but ground it in some alarming facts. Hopefully, as you read this it will be obvious what we need to do to make our collective actions even bigger and bolder. 


Who is the report aimed at? 

The More Than Music report is for anyone and everyone! Whether you are on the Board of Directors; work in production, operation or promotion; or are just a really big fan of bopping around on a summer’s afternoon to your favourite songs, this report is for you. 

We have written it with an eco-conscious reader in mind and want it to be accessible to all. 

So if you are interested in knowing exactly how Shambala’s food and drinks policy supports their climate reduction targets, or perhaps how Standon Calling is supporting increased representation in the music industry, download your copy here!

And remember, whilst reading it consider how you (yes you!) can take positive action to make your music festival or festival experience this summer even more impactful...

To learn more about our research and see which UK music festivals are pioneers in the world of social and environmental sustainability, download the It’s More Than Music report here

*Data is correct as of March 2022.

You can also sign up to our newsletter here and follow us on LinkedIn to keep up to date with the latest news and information about our upcoming events. 

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