2025 Impact 50 Honoree: Luke Howell

LUKE HOWELL
Founder & Director
Hope Solutions

PERSON FROM ANOTHER COMPANY YOU’D LIKE TO SEE ON THIS LIST? “Madeleine Smith, Senior Director ESG at Warner Music Group & Lucy August-Perna, Global Director Sustainability at Live Nation – their leadership in this sector deserves recognition.”
FAV LOCALE FOR AN IN-PERSON MEETING: “A decent pub with a sunny garden, ideally next to a river – bliss!”

Not only has Coldplay’s ongoing “Music of the Spheres World Tour” earned the band the distinction of selling more tickets than any artist on a single trek ever (12.8 million) and being the first band to gross $1 billion – and counting – on a tour, but the excursion is one of the most sustainable of all time. The British rock band announced in June 2024 that direct CO2e emissions from the first two years of “Music Of The Spheres World Tour” are 59 percent less than its previous stadium tour – exceeding its 2021 pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent.

When interviewed for the band’s Year End cover story, Luke Howell, founder and director of Hope Solutions and who serves as sustainability officer for Coldplay, explained that the band found solutions to reduce emissions and waste from all the main impact areas including energy, transport, merch and materials – “such as more efficient lighting and audio equipment that is now powered by our bespoke 1.68MW electric battery system. Nothing like it existed when we started the tour, so we had to work with experts from around the world to create a new system and solution which now helps us utilize mains and renewable energy, dramatically reducing the need for energy from generators.”

The team also reduced the number of trucks needed on tour and reduced the impact of freight by a third, with Howell explaining that “utilizing space in trucks and containers more economically and designing sets that can be transported in a way that maximizes efficient use of the space has made a real difference. For all modes of travel, low carbon renewable fuels made from palm-oil-free bio-based waste materials have been used, helping further reduce impacts.” Innovative elements to the tour include installing kinetic floors in locations around the stadiums and electricity–generating power bikes so fans can help power the show. Plus, confetti that rains down during the show is 100% biodegradable, the tour utilizes sustainable pyrotechnics, and one tree is being planted for every ticket sold.

Along with Coldplay, Howell’s recent highlights include working with Depeche Mode to build a partnership with a network of global conservation charities to tackle plastic waste and pollution, helping Glastonbury be powered entirely without fossil-fuels and going totally single-use plastic free, and co-chairing the ‘Live Events, Entertainment & Culture’ working group in the Carbon Accounting Alliance.

“Working across a wide range of projects in music, media and entertainment I’ve been privileged to be part of and help lead the transition to a more sustainable industry,” Howell says. “We have some of the most forward thinking clients in the world and I get to constantly push the boundaries with them – innovating and fostering change to help improve the sustainability of the sector.”

And last year MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative announced a major study examining the impact of live music in the U.S. and U.K. funded by Coldplay, Warner Music Group, Live Nation, and Hope Solutions with an advisory committee that includes Howell.

“The project I helped convene with Coldplay, Live Nation and Warner Music Group to fund MIT to study the impacts of live music has been a real first – bringing together cross-industry partners, world leading academics and an industry advisory committee with over 50 of the most experienced and influential people in live music and events (many of them on this list!). It has shown that such a unique collaboration is possible and that there is a desire to align on climate and sustainability initiatives. … I’m inspired by both the need to act on climate change but also the ability to do so creatively and with care, collaboration and compassion,” Howell says.

As Hope Solutions continues to grow and innovate the company is eyeing more firsts.

“As of the start of this year we have full time boots on the ground in the US as well as our existing European based team, and there are some really exciting things in the pipeline from new festivals and events to unique moments and more world firsts. Decarbonisation is the aim and we have impact measurement, training and onsite initiatives all happening across our project portfolio,” Howell says.

“Alongside music, we’re doing some really cool work with major exhibitions and trade groups such as IBC Show and PLASA, as well supporting promoters and various technical suppliers – Unusual Rigging, SLX and DF Concerts to name a few – and, particularly excitingly, we have some big plans with Coldplay at Wembley later this year, where all the shows will be 100% renewably powered by solar, wind and kinetic energy – a world first for a stadium show.”