How to assess an event’s carbon footprint

How do you assess an event’s carbon footprint?

Traditional events, i.e. those in which people physically gather in one place, always have an impact on the area in which they are held. The impact will often be a positive one for local communities: during a trade show, for example, restaurants and shops in the vicinity of the chosen venue will experience a higher turnover. At the same time, however, if an event attracts large crowds, as is the case with big festivals, local infrastructure or public transport may not be able to cope with the increased traffic and may be overwhelmed by new arrivals. In addition, the operation of large venues such as arenas, sports halls or conference centres generates significant CO2 emissions. In terms of carbon footprint, moreover, travel must be taken into account: the CO2 produced will be directly linked to the distances covered and, of course, the means of transportation used by attendees to reach the venue. Finally, wherever a large number of people are concentrated in the same space, a lot of waste will necessarily be generated, which will then have to be disposed of. All these factors contribute to determining an event’s carbon footprint.

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Travel is responsible for 90% of event emissions

90% of the environmental impact of an event depends on travel. Despite the importance of this aspect, however, it is often the case that organisers do not take it into account when working on the sustainability of the event itself. The problem is that this particular aspect of the event is the only one often considered outside the organisers’ sphere of influence: it is very uncommon, in the case of large events, for the organisation to care about the means by which participants will arrive at the event. Even in the case of corporate events where travel is planned centrally, such as meetings and conferences, managers often feel they have few options available to them – and none that are sustainable.

What can event planners do?

Dealing with sustainability and trying to reduce the environmental impact of an event can be a daunting task, and you may feel overwhelmed by the number of variables that need to be taken into account. Fortunately for event organisers, there are consultancies that specialise in calculating the overall impact of each event and providing possible action plans to reduce it. These include making venues sustainable and energy-efficient, responsible waste management, and offering sustainable local transport options, as well as offsetting those aspects that cannot be controlled directly or for which no sustainable alternatives are immediately available, such as air travel. In addition to direct action, for instance, it is possible to join CO2 offsetting programmes, which compensate for emissions with projects that contribute to the global reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere – the most popular being reforestation programmes.

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