Coldplay labelled ‘useful idiots for greenwashing’ after deal with oil company

theguardian.com:

Coldplay have been branded “useful idiots for greenwashing” after announcing a partnership with the Finnish oil company Neste to halve their touring emissions last week.

Neste claims to be the world’s largest producer of sustainable biofuels, but the firm’s palm oil suppliers cleared at least 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of forest in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia between 2019 and 2020, according a study by Friends of the Earth.

Carlos Calvo Ambel, a senior director of the Transport and Environment campaign group (T&E) said: “Neste is cynically using Coldplay to greenwash its reputation. This is a company that is linked to the kind of deforestation that would appal Chris Martin and his fans. It’s not too late, they should drop their partnership with Neste now and focus on truly clean solutions instead.”

The award-winning rock outfit announced plans to shrink their touring footprint after Martin accepted that a “backlash” against their emissions record was justified in a BBC interview last year.

A tree will be planted for each ticket sold on Coldplay’s current “music of the spheres” world tour, which includes a kinetic-powered dancefloor and other green features.

A statement from the band said: “When we announced this tour, we said that we would try our best to make it as sustainable and low carbon-impact as possible, but that it would be a work in progress. That remains true. We don’t claim to have got it all right yet.”

“Before we appointed Neste as supplier of these biofuel products, we received their guarantee that they do not use any virgin materials in their production – most especially not palm oil. It’s still our understanding that they use renewable waste products only, like cooking oil and byproducts from