Environment and Sustainability

At the LSO, we are committed to promoting environmental responsibility in everything we do, and we expect everyone that we work with to support our approach. We recognise that the climate and environmental crisis is one of the most significant challenges facing society today, and that the cultural sector has a crucial role to play in advocating for and demonstrating environmental responsibility through both policy and practice.

We aim to be a leader in environmental responsibility within the orchestral sector, pursuing innovation and sector best-practice to minimise our environmental impact wherever possible. This commitment is both local and global, recognising our operations both in the UK and throughout the world as an internationally renowned orchestra with a global footprint. We recognise the challenge of maintaining our global reputation and reach whilst reducing our environmental impact, and seek to do so through a comprehensive range of objectives, actions and targets.

The LSO has a detailed Environmental Responsibility Plan, outlining our key priorities for the coming years. These include:

• Developing a more environmentally friendly model for international touring, with a reduction in long-haul international tours, reduction in overall travel, and increased use of trains and green modes of transport wherever possible.
• Reducing energy use and wastage at LSO St Luke’s.
• Reducing the volume of printed materials that are produced each season, and ensuring that all print and LSO Live products are produced to the highest levels of environmental responsibility.
• Implementing environmentally friendly alternatives to existing practices, e.g. digital programmes, e-tickets, paperless office processes etc.

Our Progress

Recent progress has included:

• Installing internal and external LED and low-energy lighting at LSO St Luke’s.
• Transporting equipment, instruments and music in and around London using the LSO’s e-cargo bike wherever possible, to minimise the use of couriers and taxis.
• Providing Carbon Literacy Training for approximately 30 members of LSO staff.
• Reducing the amount of printed materials that are produced each year, with a transition to digital-only programmes for some events and use of environmentally responsible materials and processes wherever possible.
• Reviewing the environmental standards of LSO Live CDs, vinyl and packaging.

Our Venue

LSO St Luke’s, our venue, is a member of the Islington Sustainability Partnership, a group of public, private and voluntary sector organisations committed to reduce the economic, environmental and social of their work by cutting carbon emissions across this thriving London Borough. At LSO St Luke’s, our environmental policy allows us to:

• Ensure our business practices are ethically, socially and environmentally aware.
• Minimise our impact on the environment by reducing waste and emissions.
• Encourage these aspirations among staff, suppliers, patrons, clients and partners.

Our partners include:

• Seventeen Events, who deliver outstanding events that are environmentally and ethically aware.
• Julie’s Bicycle, a coalition of industry, science and energy experts who are working to create a low-carbon future for the music and creative industries.
• The North Central Travel Plan Network, a partnership between the London Boroughs of Camden, Islington and Haringey, The City of London, Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, with the aim of reducing congestion and pollution in the capital through the development of travel plans amongst businesses.