EVENT GREENING FORUM
Sustainability as an event priority Despite the pandemic this past year, climate change remains a serious challenge to mankind, and as we prepare our industry to restart and hopefully regain the lost ground of 2020, perhaps we should stop for a moment and consider how we will reduce our contribution to climate change – even under trying conditions.
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ecently, we have been reading of extraordinary climatic conditions in Canada, the United States and other parts of the northern hemisphere. Record temperatures, floods, fires and other natural anomalies have been grabbing the headlines. In a recent article published on EventMB titled The Heat Is On: How to Bake a Climate Strategy into Your Event, Shawna McKinley explored what is needed to maintain sustainability as an event priority and to step-up your event sustainability strategy as a business. Firstly, perhaps it is important to understand that sustainability is no longer a sideshow and irrelevant corporate issue. As of June 2021, 733 cities, 31 regions, 3,067 businesses, 173 big investors, and
By Greg MacManus, chairperson of the Event Greening Forum.
622 higher education institutions have committed to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 through the Race to Zero Campaign. This is a major achievement by the global business base, and one that is going to have long-lasting impacts on how meetings, events and exhibitions are going to change in the next few years. Ms McKinley said that climate change is a serious issue, but as the event industry comes out of the pandemic crisis, it is tempting to get back to planning familiar in-person events at all costs. However, with hybrid formats emerging and new business models being explored, now is the perfect time to bake sustainability into your larger event strategy. She suggests a four-step plan.
48 Business Events Africa August 2021
1. Start measuring Whether we recognise it or not, every event impacts and affects the environment in several ways. From the selection of venue to the number of delegates; the menu selection; lighting and sound systems; staffing and transport, your event has an impact. To understand the severity of your impacts, you need to start recording and measuring each so that you have a better idea of how to manage them. Consider that the average conference or congress delegate today creates a half tonne of carbon emissions just by being there. This includes emissions related to travel, accommodation, food preparation and service, waste and the transport of goods and services. The old adage of www.businesseventsafrica.com
