How Positive Impact is lobbying for a sustainable events industry

Positive Impact, an organisation aiming to promote sustainable practices across the events industry, was present at IMEX Frankfurt to discuss its current work and upcoming plans. Fiona Pelham, Positive Impact CEO and former MPI President, began by highlighting the critical importance of acting now to combat climate change. A report by the International Panel on Climate Change said in October that we have just 12 years to mitigate the worst effects of global heating. Positive Impact is partnered with a number of UN organisations, and is currently in the process of putting together a series of commitments from the events industry, to present to the UN at its Sustainable Development Goals Summit on 21 September. The summit usually only asks for commitments from governments and nations, but in the wake of increasing climate activism around the world, it has also invited businesses to speak about how they will combat climate change. Positive Impact has a number of initiatives already available on its website and beyond, including resources and information about how to reduce the environmental impact of your event, and a toolkit with questions to help you examine how sustainable your events, or your suppliers, really are. The group has also recently completed a ‘sustainability roadmap’ in partnership with ABPCO, and its #CSRshareday social media campaign, which invited people around the world to join in a global conversation about the environment and the SDGs.