Brazil is the only country hosting a Live Earth concert that is entirely free and open to the public, and producers expect the concert being staged on the famed Copacabana Beach will draw over a million people.
The 24-hour Live Earth concert series will begin in Sydney, Australia and continue across all 7 continents with events in Tokyo, Japan; Shanghai, China; Johannesburg, South Africa; Hamburg, Germany; London, United Kingdom; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before concluding at New Jersey's Giants Stadium in the United States.
Live Earth was founded by Kevin Wall, CEO of Control Room, the company producing the concerts globally. The event's purpose, according to their organizers is to bring together more than 150 of the world's top music acts to inspire an audience of over two billion people to trigger a mass movement to combat global warming. Live Earth seeks to inspire its global audience to make meaningful and lasting changes in their lives and spur action by corporations and governments to turn the tide on global warming.
"Music is an international language that has the power to move people," Wall said. "Live Earth's 24 hours of music spanning all 7 continents will move people in every corner of the planet to take action against global warming."
Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign led by the Alliance for Climate Protection and other international non-governmental organizations to move individuals, corporations and governments to take action to solve global warming. Former Vice President of the United States Al Gore is the Chair of the Alliance for Climate Protection and a Partner of Live Earth.
"Live Earth is taking place across all seven continents because the climate crisis affects us all – and all of us must be a part of the solution," Gore said. "Live Earth will engage individuals, corporations and governments to take action against the climate crisis."
Live Earth Rio de Janeiro is supported locally by Banco Itaú and Rio de Janeiro City Hall, among others. The concert will be broadcast on TV Globo, Brazil's largest television network and Live Earth's official network for Brazil.
Live Earth Rio de Janeiro is also supported by Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the Environment and Development (FBOMS), WWF Brazil, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Brazil, Friends of the Earth Brazilian Amazônia and REBRAF: The Brazilian Agroforestry Network, Live Earth's official local NGO partners.
"Rio de Janeiro reaffirms its position as an icon city in the America by supporting and being one of the host cities of Live Earth, important peace manifesto that aims to increase the conscience about global warming," said Ruben Medina, Brazilian State Tourism Secretary.
Exclusive online media partner MSN is helping Live Earth reach people in every corner of the globe. Live Earth Rio de Janeiro will be streamed live on 7.7.07 at http://liveearth.br.msn.com/. MSN's 39 localized web portals worldwide attract 465 million monthly users.