Conference News June 2022 | Page 26

26 Carbon Tracking

CONSCIOUS ABOUT CARBON

Louisa Daley talks to industry experts about carbon tracking and how it can change the future of events
ustainability – it ’ s a key concern and focal point in the events industry at the moment . Many eventprofs have implemented sustainable initiatives and have made great strides to raise awareness . However , one difficulty remains : exactly how do we measure our carbon footprint in order to reduce it ? This is where carbon tracking can help .
To understand what carbon tracking resources are available , and how carbon tracking can benefit all areas of the industry , Louisa Daley spoke to Anita Howard , strategy director of ICE ; Anna Abdelnoor and Ben Quarrell , co-founders of isla ; Maya Mhatre , co-founder of Reset Connect ; and Jo Austin , sales director at Lime Venue Portfolio and The Venue Collection .
Industry help : SAM and TRACE Of late , there have been various industry developments to support eventprofs with carbon tracking . For example , ICE , the global community of corporate event planners , in collaboration with
DRPG , Cvent , Maritz Global Events , Encore and ACC Liverpool , recently introduced SAM .
“ SAM is a free event sustainability carbon measurement tool that was created for the industry , by the industry ,” explains Howard . “ SAM came about because our corporate community faced barriers . They either didn ’ t know where to start , the tools were too complicated or they simply didn ’ t have the time ,” she adds .
Howard perceives SAM as the start of an events planner ’ s carbon-reduction journey . “ Everyone needs to start somewhere ,” says Howard , “ SAM is a great starting place as there are no cost barriers , it ’ s not complicated , and no training is necessary .”
SAM works by capturing data from not only the event planner , but also from the delegate . From there , SAM creates a visual ‘ carbon bubble ’, otherwise known as a carbon measurement score . “ By understanding the amount of carbon used , event planners can then take steps to reduce their carbon footprint for future events .” she adds .
As the data from SAM isn ’ t owned by an individual , SAM will be able to share the average carbon output for conferences , awards , and other types of events . “ Once we have a benchmark , we can know how to improve ,” says Howard .
“ But we have to work together . Data from all apps need to be shared quickly so we can all start improving today ,” she encourages .
Similarly , sustainable body isla has introduced TRACE , a purpose-built carbon measurement platform , dedicated to the events industry . Quarrell tells me TRACE works by measuring emissions from transport ( production ), travel ( audience and crew ),
Anna Abdelnoor
Jo Austin
Anita Howard
Maya Mhatre
Ben Quarrell
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