Viparis and GL events team up to curb carbon emissions

As part of a joint effort to curb carbon emissions, global events services provider GL events, will lease 8,000 sqm of hall space at Viparis’s Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition complex to store equipment for building stands at the Première Vision Paris trade shows in France. This environmental initiative aims to eliminate the need to dispatch more than 500 Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGVs) during the two annual shows. The partnership also enables Viparis to diversify the uses of its venues and allows GL events to cut back on deliveries associated with one of its biggest professional events. Since its founding in 1973, the Première Vision trade show’s exhibition stands have been fully modular and are reused from one show to the next. Transporting these stands within the Greater Paris region for each edition requires nearly 500 round trips by heavy goods vehicles. Storing the equipment at the Paris Nord Villepinte venue eliminates the carbon emissions from those vehicles, saving a total of 82 tons of CO2 per year. This is the equivalent of over 40 years of an average French citizen’s personal carbon allowance (PCA) as calculated under the Paris Agreement. Bruno Desloques, director of the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition complex, said: “Seeing two of the largest stakeholders in the events industry come together for the good of the environment is a real source of pride. This is proof positive that companies can work together to improve event-related logistics and curtail their environmental impact.” Olivier Ferraton, deputy managing director of GL events, added: “Keeping deliveries under control is a missing link for our industry when it comes to providing low-carbon services. This is a first step in a process that we hope to continue over the long term and extend to other areas.”