he EN roundtable
T at Farnborough International took place a week after COP27 , and conversations around sustainability have been hotting up again .
This time around , several event professionals who joined both in-person and virtually were asked how the events sector can accelerate the UN ’ s 17 sustainable development goals ( SDGs ) through sustainable action . During COP27 , the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative launched its roadmap , designed to aid suppliers , venues , and businesses in their journey to becoming Net Zero by 2050 .
While the panel acknowledged the roadmap as a key focal point for the industry , the consensus was
Accelerating sustainability
EN ’ s roundtable , hosted by Joe Gallop at Farnborough International , explored how the events sector can accelerate the UN ’ s Sustainable Development Goals ( SDG )
that the UN ’ s SDGs are not something they pay attention to , nor do they think most of them are relevant to them . But while the SDGs , which include targets such as no poverty and zero hunger can seem distant to eventprofs , the panel did affirm that small steps taken by organisers , venues and suppliers can go a long way to achieving the industry ’ s collective goal .
Collective goal Cressida Prout , group event director at Bray Leino Events , said : “ There are lots of initiatives out there , and I ’ m hoping that collectively we will get there eventually . But
I still feel like we ’ re all kind of clutching at straws at the moment .”
She said organisers need to know what impact their sustainable initiatives are having : “ It ’ s really encouraging to see the steps forward that venues have been taking in the last 12 to 24 months . What we ’ re going to have to start doing now with our suppliers is encouraging more of them to provide the carbon data that we need , in order to more effectively measure our events . Until we can measure them and produce a baseline , we ’ re all just punching in the air . We don ’ t know what impact we ’ re having .”
Carbon calculation Rebecca Sawyer , event manager at Completely
42 — December