A new insurance policy for UK festivals is rewarding green events by offering a 10% discount from normal rates. The scheme has been launched by international brokers Robertson Taylor, in conjunction with environmental advice website AGreenerFestival.com (AGF), and a number of European insurers have also expressed interest.

“This is a win-win for the festival community,” says AGF’s founder Ben Challis. “Securing real savings for green festivals and events is the best thing we have done so far.”

A new insurance policy for UK festivals is rewarding green events by offering a 10% discount from normal rates. The scheme has been launched by international brokers Robertson Taylor, in conjunction with environmental advice website AGreenerFestival.com (AGF), and a number of European insurers have also expressed interest.

“This is a win-win for the festival community,” says AGF’s founder Ben Challis. “Securing real savings for green festivals and events is the best thing we have done so far.”

To qualify, festivals will have to choose and implement at least five environmental initiatives from a list of 16 possibilities that AGF has endorsed. Robertson Taylor has negotiated discounts on up to £10million (€13.4m) of employers’ liability, on up to £5m (€6.7) of public/products liability and up to £10m of equipment cover.

Robertson Taylor’s Sue Moseley says: “In many cases over the last year, festivals have incurred additional charges in order to obtain a greener status and we felt that this deserved some encouragement. We believe that encouraging clients to ‘go green’ is a positive step for our industry sector and our environment.”

As part of the new relationship, Robertson Taylor will also sponsor AGF’s annual awards scheme for greener festivals in 2008. These awards were first made in 2007 to 15 festivals including Latitude, Download, Glastonbury Festival, Sunrise Celebration, The Big Chill and The Big Session Festival, all in the UK, and Peats Ridge Festival in Australia and Bonnaroo in the US.