A Lloyd’s broker has teamed up with a charity to get festival organisers around the world to go green.
International music industry insurance broker, Robertson Taylor, and ‘A Greener Festival’ have launched a campaign to encourage music and outdoor festival organisers to reduce their environmental impact and get cheaper insurance cover in the process.
They have produced a series of 16 green initiatives and told organisers that if they sign up to implement five or more of those initiatives, they can obtain a range of reductions on various insurance coverages placed in the Lloyd’s and London company markets, including their liability and equipment policies.
The offer has been made to festival organisers in the UK as the number and size of music festivals continues to grow.
For example, the Isle of Wight-based Bestival has seen attendance grow from 6,000 in 2003 to 30,000 in 2007. Another aspect has been the growth of ‘boutique festivals’ – smaller more intimate festivals targeting a specific market.
Alongside this growth there is an increasing call for reducing the environmental impact of festivals. The growing environmental awareness of festival goers was highlighted recently in a survey conducted by Buckinghamshire New University, in association with A Greener Festival.
In the UK, the survey found that 56% of respondents thought festivals had a negative carbon footprint; 48% said they would pay more for greener events; while 36% consider a festival's environmental policy before deciding to buy a ticket. Awareness of green issues relating to festivals is higher in the UK than in Europe, the survey found.
Premium reductions on offer are subject to a risk assessment and review of a festival’s claims record, but John Silcock, Managing Director of Robertson Taylor, said the insurance industry was keen to play its part in the environmental efforts surrounding major events.
“The results of the survey speak for themselves,” he said. “Everyone in the industry needs to consider how they can make a contribution towards reducing their environmental impact. Offering reductions in the premiums for some of the most important insurances reflects our genuine desire to see a reduction in the environmental impact of festivals.”
The 16 possible steps advocated by the initiative are:
1. Encourage festival goers to minimise water wastage by using taps which turn off automatically when not in use, e.g. pump powered taps.
2. Provide waste water containers so that contaminated water is not poured on the floor.
3. Make use of 50% composting toilets.
4. Implement a water use minimisation programme, through re-use of grey water to flush toilets.
5. Water use minimisation through organic dust settling agent in water tankers spraying roads, which reduces any need for constant spraying.
6. Ensure traders use only eco-friendly cleaning products.
7. Provide standard, recycling and biodegradable bin bags for traders.
8. Allow use of only biodegradable disposables or re-usable cups and plates on stalls.
9. Provide separate bins for recycling.
10. Separate waste for recycling.
11. Involve festival goers by supplying recycling bin bags and either a returnable rubbish tax or reward incentives.
12. Give all organic waste to local farms for use as compost, or create an on-site composting spot (depending upon the location).
13. Container returns system.
14. Obtain at least 25% of festival power from bio diesel and solar energy.
15. Implement environmentally friendly practices in relation to traffic, including the provision of public transport, the implementation of car park charges, encouragement of car shares or a charge per vehicle brought to the event – the proceeds of which are used to subsidise cheap public transport.
16. Use of at least 25% bio diesel vehicles on site.
