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Drumbeat for climate change
07/07/2007 21:09 - (SA)
New York - Al Gore's Live Earth gigs against climate change swept the globe on Saturday, with organisers and stars fighting to get their message out against a backdrop of lingering controversy.
Fans massed in cities across the world, many huddling under driving rain, as performers took to the stage for the first concerts in Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, London, and the German city of Hamburg.
Organisers hope to reach two billion people with the shows, which spread to New York, Washington, Johannesburg and Rio de Janeiro during the day, with each event a mix of music and serious messages about the environment.
The Live Earth event, which aims to be the biggest charity concert of all time, has faced a slew of organisational problems and has also come under fire from commentators, a minority of environmentalists and several influential pop stars.
Performers in London included Madonna and US rock-funk band the Red Hot Chili Peppers, while acts like recently reformed 1980s rock group The Police and rapper Kanye West prepared to join a later concert in New York.
Musicians and entertainers urged the crowds to sign a seven-point pledge designed to change behaviour, put pressure on political leaders in every country, and to take personal responsibility toward a more sustainable planet.
"You know, sometimes, walking away from situations or old habits is a hard thing to do. But that's because it's the right thing to do," Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson of the Black Eyed Peas told the London crowd.
In New Jersey's Giants Stadium, where the concert was to kick off at 18:30 GMT with a live appearance by former US vice-president Gore, hundreds of concert-goers milled around in anticipation of watching performers including The Police, Bon Jovi, Alicia Keys and Ludacris.
"I came because this concert is for a good cause," Curtis Oxley, 19, told AFP.
Corporate sponsors raised the eyebrows
However, cynics pointed out that pollution caused by the concerts makes them part of the problem of global warming as well as the solution.
Some stars were using private jets to reach the venues and the choice of corporate sponsors also raised eyebrows.
US car group Chevrolet, which is advertising its new "green" hybrid 4X4, has sponsored the Live Earth website and US-German automaker DaimlerChrysler is a sponsor at the Hamburg concert.
"We think the concert is good, but it's absurd to have a company like that (DaimlerChrysler) as a sponsor," a spokesperson for Greenpeace Germany, Sonja Koch, told AFP.
In Washington, Gore took a swipe at global warming doubters as he opened a last-minute addition to the event in the US capital.
"Some who don't understand what is now at stake tried to stop this event," said Gore in a thinly veiled hit on members of President George W. Bush's Republican party. "But here we are," he said.
The gig in Shanghai, where only about 2 700 people attended, was seen as key in the drive to raise awareness about climate change, with China already or soon-to-become the biggest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.
"I think these kinds of concerts can really help make people, especially young people, more aware about environmental protection," said college graduate Sun Jie, who added she was attempting to do her part by saving electricity at home.
A fierce rainstorm meant much of 70 000-capacity Wembley Stadium in London was empty at the start of the show in the early afternoon.
Johannesburg almost sold out
The concert in Hamburg was also hit by rain, leaving many seats in the HSH Nordbank Arena unoccupied.
However, the event in Johannesburg was almost sold-out, with headlining acts including the South African Grammy award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir, Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo, British diva Joss Stone, and the reggae group UB40.
Organisers have countered criticism about Live Earth by saying the concerts are aimed at raising awareness and are just the start of a major three-year campaign.
Steve Howard, the founder of the "We're In This Together" environmental campaign, conceded that "yes, there has been some pollution caused by flying people in."
"But that's what we needed to do - it was a calculated investment."
The concerts, many powered with renewable energy and featuring recyclable stages, are being carried by 120 television networks around the world and being streamed live on the Internet.
In London, all the burger boxes were made of sugar cane and reed pulp, making them fully biodegradable, and all cooking oil from concession stands was to be converted into biodiesel.
Live Earth features some 7 000 events in 129 countries, with a smaller concert being staged in the Japanese city of Kyoto and a highly unusual performance by scientists-cum-rockers Nunatak in Antarctica, where temperatures have risen by nearly three degrees Celsius in the last 50 years.
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