Measuring and Managing Global Citizen Festival's Fooptrint
AT A GLANCE - CHALLENGES
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Complex organisational boundaries
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Data Collection and project management
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Stakeholder involvement
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Evolving Landscape
The 2024 Global Citizen Festival brought 60,000 people together in NYC to celebrate action, music, and progress, and it didn’t stop at the stage. The event achieved a major sustainability milestone by cutting diesel generator use by 84% thanks to a new high-capacity battery system. This shift not only reduced on-site emissions but also improved energy efficiency across the board.
A full carbon footprint assessment measured the emissions, with travel being the largest contributor, as expected. These results now serve as both a baseline for future impact and a powerful case study in climate-forward event production.
Objective
The Global Citizen Festival sought to understand and reduce the environmental impact of its large-scale live event in Central Park. With tens of thousands of attendees, international talent, and complex logistics, the goal was to:
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Quantify emissions across all scopes, with a focus on Scope 3 (indirect) impacts.
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Identify the most carbon-intensive areas of event delivery.
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Establish a baseline for continuous environmental performance improvement.
Solutions
Ecofiniti led a full carbon footprint assessment, working closely with the team at the Global Citizen Festival in order to manage data gathering, analysis, and reporting across a wide array of impact areas. This included:
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Stakeholder engagement and data collection from an extensive value chain including production teams, travel coordinators, vendors, and artists.
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Categorisation of emissions by scope and source in alignment with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
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Detailed emissions analysis for categories such as:
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Audience transport
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Artist and organiser travel, including flights, ground transport, and accommodation
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Materials, freight, waste, food & beverage, and energy use
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A dynamic reporting framework that not only calculates emissions but also highlights reduction opportunities and supports year-on-year comparison.
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Delivery of a clear and understandable emissions summary with recommendations tailored to event planning and stakeholder engagement.
Results
The festival cut Scope 1 emissions significantly by replacing most diesel generators with a cleaner battery-powered system.Most emissions came from global travel, which is expected at an event of this scale. Even so, Global Citizen continues to promote low-emission travel options, smarter routing where possible.
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REDUCING
SCOPE 1
EMISSIONS
In 2024, Global Citizen replaced most diesel generators with a 1,250 kW battery system, reducing assets from 12 units to just 2. Diesel use dropped by 84%, from 6,210 gallons to under 1,000.
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By charging batteries at higher loads (around 80%), generators ran almost twice as efficiently, producing 3.1 kWh per litre of diesel versus 1.6 kWh at lower loads.
This shift cut run times, improved efficiency by 59%, and delivered a major Scope 1 emissions reduction.
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