Louisa Daley chats to industry experts to understand why forming a sustainable baseline is crucial to greener events.
Sustainability has been the talk of the town as of late. It’s a fact that, as an industry, we are one of the most wasteful by nature. However, we have been making strides to flip this script. By sharing best practise and integrating more sustainable measures into our events – we’re looking to leave a positive impact on both our attendees and planet.
Yet, the question remains: how do we push the needle further when we’re all operating without an industry standard? How do we know we are doing the right thing, if we don’t have something to compare it to?
I spoke to Christianne Beck, founder, Worlds Better; Warren Campbell, general manager, 15Hatfields; Priscilla Lim, events manager, IR Magazine; Carina Jandt, director and co-founder, Event Cycle; Matt Grey, founder, event:decision; as well as Kate Kieran, TRACE customer success manager; and Rebecca Lardeur, climate strategist, isla; to find out what this standard would like in an ideal world, who needs to be involved and the challenges creating one may bring.
Different strokes
All of the eventprofs interviewed agreed that there should be a standard when it comes to sustainability. “I wholeheartedly believe that there should be an industry standard,” says Campbell. “A standardisation is something that will be very helpful when meeting sustainable goals,” adds Kieran.
However, the practicalities of implementing just one sustainability standard for every type of event is unlikely. But why? It comes down to the very nature of our industry: “because the events world is so unique and so bespoke led, it’s really difficult to provide a standard,” says Jandt. From conferences and exhibitions, to brand activations and live music events – each require different guidelines and strategies. To add to this, isla’s recent ‘Temperature Check Report’, reminds us that ‘not all event emissions are created equal’.
Grey echoes Jandt’s view and explains: “You could say that the event industry is too diverse, that sustainability is a complex and context-dependent concept, making it difficult to establish a one-size-fits-all standard for a sustainable event”.
We must also consider the fact that everyone is on “a different sustainability journey” and “at different stages,” as Beck points out. “We need to be open and flexible with people’s current measuring capabilities,” Kieran says. This makes the possibility of creating a standard, a “slow and difficult process,” adds Beck.
For example, London-based venue 15Hatfields is in close proximity to a range of sustainable suppliers and facilities. “To prevent any of our non-recyclable rubbish from ending up in landfill, we use a local carbon capture energy recovery plant, which helps to lower our emissions,” Campbell reveals. But he is quick to add, not everyone will have this luxury, or access to such facilities.
Moreover, the range of stakeholders we have within the industry poses its own barrier. Lardeur explains: “What we find here at isla, is that what an events producer can do in order be more sustainable, isn’t necessarily the same as what a fabricator of a certain size can do, due to factors including time, budget and resources.”
Small steps
The good news is, there are small steps we can take, right now, to get the ball rolling and standardise sustainability – regardless of the difficulties and differences outlined above. “When it comes to standardisation, it should very much be about how we use language and terms, or as we call it ‘climate literacy’. We need to work off the same hymn sheet essentially,” says Kieran.
For example, Jandt says the industry could start by questioning and defining: “What is sustainability? What counts? What is the waste hierarchy, and how does that work?” This would help provide clarity and avoid confusion – making green goals more attainable.
We can also collaborate further, by creating cross industry working groups. “It would be great to have suppliers, venues, agencies and corporates sitting round a table to discuss how they can sway behaviour change, share resources, or consider circularity in deliveries – all of those things!” says Beck.
Government support
You’re probably reading this thinking, but wait, we already have industry standards? Whilst we do already have certifications, standards and initiatives and like B Corp, ISO 20121, Net Zero Carbon Events – the eventprofs pointed out they’re not government led, or compulsory – they’re often down to the discretion of each organisation and business.
“There are standards led by government, that already exist and work really well. We just need to adopt them here in the UK,” says Jandt. For example, the Austrian Ecolabel is a certification led by the Federal Ministry Republic of Austria – Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology. The certification is only awarded to events which are organised in a ‘professionally’ and ‘environmentally sound’ manner.
Jandt explains: “It certifies the whole event that you are planning and it entails everything from delegate travel, what materials you are using, catering, the actual venue itself – all facets. It also takes into consideration that you can’t do everything. It scores certain elements higher than then others, but you can still get points through it. It also provides you with options to see what the potential changes would be next time.” Although it’s “a lot of work” and requires “a lot of commitment”, Jandt believes it’s something that could potentially be implemented through the whole events industry.
Jandt isn’t the only eventprof who believes the government has a role to play. “In an ideal world, to help standardise sustainability, the government would offer financial incentives to the events industry,” says Lim. This would encourage sustainability to become prioritised when planning events.
According to Lim, these incentives could take the form of tax reliefs for event companies submitting eligible ESG reports that meet the statistical benchmark outlined by the government. She explains: “This could then be used to benchmark how well your event is sustainably performing in line with the outlined benchmark and other event companies.”
“For many organisations, profit is prioritised over sustainability, so without a financial incentive, benchmarking does not become a priority,” adds Lim. “For any sort of standard to be adopted, it needs to cascade from government down,” echoes Campbell. This is in the process of happening, and a prime example would be the ban of single-use plastics, effective from October 2023. “The government are forcing the hands of businesses to be compliant to an overarching ethos,” he says.
Grey agrees and adds: “New company emissions reporting regulations are being introduced at EU-level. These regulations will require large companies (with over 250 employees and a £34m turnover) to report emissions related to supply chain, which will include event activity. So, pressure will come on event planners to deliver more sustainability.”
“If a governmental standard is introduced, the venues could jump on it and let the organisers and event agencies know that this is something that they have. Essentially, the clients won’t know about it until the agencies tell them, and the agencies won’t know about it until the venue’s tell them. But it needs to be communicated by the people who organise the events,” says Jandt.
Filling in the gaps
Before we get the government involved, we must make sense of our data. How can we move forwards and call for a standard, if we don’t know where we currently are?
“Data, especially when it comes to sustainability, is really important and there needs to be more. It needs to also be more specialised,” says Jandt.
This is something sustainable industry body isla has been working towards. In May of this year, isla launched its first ‘Temperature Check Report’, which Kieran says reflects the state of the industry as it stands. “As an organisation, we intend to continuously produce these reports, so that we can, overtime, get this really incredible view of the events industry,
According to the report, energy, materials and waste are the hardest areas to capture data due to a lack of ‘direct control’ of these elements. Staff travel and accommodation, production transport and food and beverage, are the most recorded areas.
Campbell explains why this is: “There’s inaccurate and unverified data because we sometimes put the onus on suppliers and providers to give us their interpretation of their data. But how do we know that it’s not been manipulated?”
Lardeur adds: “There are still areas where it’s a lot of estimated data, which is problematic, as materials and energy account for 20% to 30% of global emissions.”
Jandt also recognises this issue and tells me about Event Cycle’s own experience with this type of data. She says: “At COP26, if an item was made out of several materials, we would break it down into ‘what are the top three that contribute to the weight of the overall item?’ Then that way, we were able to assign the different carbon factors and give one whole number – which made sense, but it was still an estimation.”
So how can we fill in the gaps, and make sense of our data? “I would love to see more transparency – that’s how I think the industry can move forward. Transparency with its reporting, more public facing sustainability policies, strategies and individual reports,” says Lardeur.
We also need to have a dedicated Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code. “We need to be classified in some shape or form. That way, everyone in the industry can actually contribute data (which they are providing anyway), in one consolidated place,” says Jandt.
“Without data, standards are meaningless,” says Grey, “how else do you report on standards if not by setting targets and measuring achievement?”
“Businesses that aren’t prioritising sustainability now, will get left behind,” warns Beck. “Legislation is coming, so better to get your house in order now, than later.”
