Net Zero Carbon Events publishes best practice guide

Net Zero Carbon Events (NZCE) has officially published seven documents that provide “actionable insights and strategies” to help organisations reach net zero. The documents, produced by dedicated action area workstream teams, were launched at ExCeL London on 11 December 2023. They cover priority areas identified by the roadmap published a year ago, including – venue energy; smart production and waste management; logistics; travel and accommodation; food and food waste; offsetting and measurement. James Rees, president of Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), which is driving the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative, said: “These documents, vital to the development of an industry-wide standard pathway towards net zero carbon events, represent the largest, most inclusive collaboration across the events industry ever achieved, with the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative being supported and endorsed by UNFCCC. “This achievement is the result of the hard work of over 100 industry volunteers whose support, added together, represents many years of working time to develop, critique and finalise these guidance documents to be used in practice and improve upon over time as NZCE evolves.” Presenting the outcomes featured in the seven documents, Alexander Alles, executive director of JMIC, commented: “The expertise within the workstream teams has been of the highest level: senior operations and sustainability experts from event organisers, venues and service suppliers across the world.” Each of the seven documents contain detailed guidance to help organisations progress on the decarbonisation journey. For instance, the measurement methodology, serves as a comprehensive guide for understanding and quantifying event-level emissions. It covers nine emission source categories, measurement tiers, event-level metrics, extrapolation, and baseline setting. Smart production and waste management has launched a ‘materials library’ with a list of different materials used in events with their specific emissions factors with the plan to expand it in future, while logistics provides advice on on-site and last mile logistics as well as traffic management and smart cities. Future outlook The event also looked to the future of the initiative. Kai Hattendorf, managing director and CEO of UFI, said that the release of the guidance documents completed the initial work of the NZCE initiative. In 2024 and beyond, the focus will shift from development to implementation. To achieve this, NZCE will adapt its structure and work flows around three central ‘tentpoles’ – ‘measurement, reporting and verification’; ‘activation and adaptation’ and ‘communication and education’. The initiative’s work will be based on a series of projects to progress topics such as reporting, standards, certifications, reusable stands and other key issues prioritised in the community as central drivers of greenhouse gas reductions. Rees concluded: “Part two, the next stage of the initiative, is a major change and exciting step forward. After the three phases of development, identifying what needs to be covered and producing guidance, successful implementation is vital. This next part needs the total commitment and active engagement of everyone from CEOs downwards to achieve net zero.”