Finding a path at COP27
On 11 November 2022 , the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative officially launched its Roadmap , designed to help the industry become Net Zero by 2050
rom 6 – 18 November ,
F the Climate Change Conference ( COP27 ) took place in Sharm el-Sheikh , Egypt . At the conference , the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative launched its new Roadmap for event suppliers , venues , businesses , and other eventprofs .
On the launch , Kai Hattendorf , managing director and CEO of UFI , said : “ This is the biggest , most inclusive action ever from our industry . At COP26 we just got started with our pledge and a lot of momentum . Now , at COP27 , we are launching the Roadmap .”
According to the initiative , the Roadmap was designed to help event professionals and venues define a pathway towards sustainability , by following best practices and implementing measurements into their efforts . In doing so , the goal is to provide standard metrics for measuring the carbon footprint of events and avoid duplication of efforts where possible .
As measurements were mentioned by several speakers who attended both in person and virtually , Hattendorf commented : “ Measurement is key – without it , you can ’ t track progress . The challenge in our sector is that every event is different . It ’ s essential to take a united approach .”
Participants included Senthil Gopinath , ICCA CEO ; Derar Almanaseer , director of strategy and investment at ADNEC ; Helen Sheppard , sustainability director at RX ; Edwin Van der Venner owner and chief innovation and sustainability officer at beMatrix ; and James Rees , ExCeL London executive director for conferences and events and outgoing ICCA president .
According to Hattendorf , by 2028 the initiative aims to : “ have models for implementation , successful pilots to announce and share , and we will have companies beginning to report their progress into the framework .”
Speakers expressed that many businesses and venues are at different stages of their sustainability journey , with varying budgets that provide differing restrictions case-bycase . Rather than using the initiative and Roadmap to enforce measures that penalise suppliers , businesses , and venues that can only work within their means , the speakers emphasised
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• ‘ Start simple ’ by focusing on obvious changes first
• Encourage buy-in across the company
• Apply measurements of carbon footprints and establish a baseline
• Educate stakeholders
• Join the initiative as soon as possible , for the industry to work through challenges together
Following the launch , Hattendorf stated that the next step for the Net Zero Carbon Events team is to turn items in the Roadmap into tangible action items over the next 12 months – in the lead up to COP28 . Net Zero Carbon Events has launched the Roadmap on its website as a resource . EW
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