Pollstar (12/15/22)

A Greener Festival (AGF) awarded its A Greener Arena certification to two iconic London venues, with the O2 being the first U.K. arena to receive the designation for reducing emissions and its commitment to staff's health and wellbeing as well as equality, diversity and inclusion. The O2's sustainability-driven initiatives in 2022 include the Overheated climate festival in June; reduced consumption of single-use plastic via implementation of paper cups and recycled PET plastic wristbands; and catering partner Levy UK + Ireland's pledge to achieve net zero at the venue by 2025. "Sustainability has been an integral part of our business strategy this year, and with events like Overheated we've been able to make real strides in this space," said O2 General Manager Steve Sayer. OVO Arena Wembley received the other A Greener Arena designation under the "Improvers" banner, which AGF grants to venues that "signify great strides on the green arena journey, with positive actions and improvements that show the arena exhibits a significant engagement with reducing negative environmental and social impacts, and enhancing positive impacts. Improvers are increasingly understanding their emissions and setting measurable targets for continuous improvements." Since this past April, OVO Arena Wembley has undertaken a baseline CO2 analysis and impact assessment to develop and guide its sustainability strategy. "The arena supports OVO Energy's commitment to becoming a net-zero business by 2035, and drive progress towards zero carbon living," the venue stated.

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