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COP26 |
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should be familiar with . The core outcome was that all nations agreed – and were legally bound – to hold global temperature rises to below 2C above pre-industrial levels , while pursuing efforts to limit changes to 1.5C .
Who is going ?
This is no two-day conference : between 25,000 and 30,000 delegates are expected to descend on Glasgow over the 14 days the event is due to run , with 120 of the world ’ s leaders expected to carry out their top-line duties over the first few days .
Once the world leaders have read their speeches and left , hundreds of representatives will then enter a series of complex negotiations , which will determine what happens next .
As you might expect , Glasgow is running at hotel occupancy capacity , so much so that two cruise ships have docked at the King George V dock , which adds a further 3,300-bedroom spaces to the city ’ s bulging inventory . There are more than 12,000 hotel bedrooms in Glasgow itself .
How will COP26 impact the events industry ?
We do not know what exactly will come out of COP26 in terms of legally binding treaties , but as the events industry services every sector on earth , it will need to face up to many changes . Carbon off-setting will likely play a major
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role , but to what level we do not know . Corporates are going to be under intense pressure to demonstrate that they are making changes to limit their impact . Therefore , it is likely that we will see a reduction in business travel . By way of a case study , in October 2020 Amazon reported that it had saved nearly $ 1bn in employee travel expenses , as the Covid-19 pandemic kept employees from jumping on planes and moving around . It is a safe assumption that a lot of those savings came from business meetings or event-related activities .
On the face of it , and from Amazon ’ s point of view , they made a big saving and massively
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“ Corporates are going to be under intense pressure to demonstrate that they are making changes to limit their impact , so it is likely we will see a reduction in business travel ” |
reduced their carbon footprint . What ’ s not to like ? While online virtual events certainly have a place , it is likely that company policies will insist upon them for smaller meetings and training workshops going forward . So will there be a reduction in business travel for smaller events ? Yes , it ’ s likely . But what about those in-person events which are necessary ?
When a delegate requests to visit a conference , it is possible that they will have to satisfy a criterion to get the go-ahead . While it is impossible to speculate on what that might be , any conference or event organiser will need to work smarter to ensure their event hits the right notes .
To encourage people to attend your in-person events , you will need to offer something special , and budget-setters and environmental surveyors ( if that becomes a role ) will need to see evidence of value .
JMIC leads the race to Net Zero
Global industry association ICCA in September announced the launch of a new initiative : Net Zero Carbon Events . The aim of which is to connect the events industry globally to the rapidly growing movement towards Net Zero by 2050 . The initiative is hosted by the Joint Meetings Industry Council ( JMIC ).
The objective is to have a pledge ready for COP26 and to present how their countries will achieve the 50 % reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions by 2030 to deliver on the Paris Agreement .
Through the initiative , JMIC aims to link all stakeholders in the corporate , professional , academic and destination communities worldwide that have also committed to engagement in what is one of the biggest collective
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