Sponsored content
GES launches ESG Progress Report
or some time , GES has
F had a burning ambition to further reinforce its ESG commitments . With this in mind , the team appointed its first ever head of ESG , Kate Holliday , last year , and seized the opportunity to take stock and inform its plans for the company ’ s ESG roadmap .
Following months of data analysis and assessment , Kate has developed a far better understanding of GES achievements in the field and identified areas everyone can work on to improve the impact they have on their surroundings and the wider world .
She ’ s looked closely at how to make sure that ESG commitments are not just powerful but achievable and meaningful , too , and from this work she has identified three main areas that the industry should consider .
Data is a huge challenge for the industry , but it also presents a huge opportunity .
Above : Kate Holliday
It ’ s no surprise that gaps in data make effective reporting extremely difficult and Kate calls on the industry to better support the cause . By its very nature , the events industry can be diverse and disparate , and this has a huge impact on how businesses measure and report on things . Across the spectrum of events there
“ When ESG is discussed , it is essential those conversations go beyond environmental sustainability and instead include social sustainability and the tangible impact events can have on communities .” is a plethora of different companies assessing different kinds of data . For example , at any one point you can have the venue , agency , client , production company and graphics company all taking data , none of which is standardised . This leaves you with stakeholders who are measuring any number of varying outputs , using different apps , ISO levels , as well as potentially employing their own metrics . Exhibitions are an environment like no other – every business behind every stand has their own agenda , too , and it ’ s important suppliers take time to understand them .
Bearing in mind , a company like GES has some 250 suppliers , all doing things differently , and who in many cases are required to meet corporate standards that are not for discussion or debate .
It is , therefore , fair to say that this produces a challenging backdrop against which everyone must try to work together to produce a clear end goal . Parties need to collaborate and find common ground when it comes to data insights , as this could provide massive data sets , across sprawling industries and from different perspectives . Then , real change can be tracked , measured and implemented across the breadth of the industry .
There are increasing opportunities to expand community engagement and exciting ways in which businesses can contribute to social change .
When ESG is discussed , it is essential those conversations go beyond environmental sustainability and instead include social sustainability and the tangible impact events can have on communities .
While venues and production companies are mostly static , events themselves are often transient . This means , they consume waste , carbon and the like , before essentially moving
38 Issue 6 2024 www . exhibitionworld . co . uk