Sustainable and impactful business events in England
Introduction
The UK Government has committed to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 81% by 2035, in line with targets to reach net zero emissions by 2050 as set out by the Paris Agreement.
MeetEngland, part of VisitEngland, is committed to promoting regenerative travel, working in partnership with destinations and suppliers to ensure that tourism activity and events create positive outcomes for visitors, host communities, our environment and the prosperity of England’s visitor economy.
Through business events, we encourage event planners to integrate sustainability practices and outcome-focused impact strategies as they plan and deliver international association conferences, trade shows and corporate meetings and incentives. We work in partnership with city convention bureaus, venues and suppliers across England to develop positive impact strategies and ensure that business events create positive outcomes for delegates, suppliers, host communities and our environment.
Sustainable Development Goals
Our English cities have been trained to integrate outcome-focused positive impact strategies into planning and delivering business events. MeetEngland and our destination partners are ready to help you meet and exceed your event legacy and impact objectives.
Our work to promote sustainable business events is informed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a global framework to guide governments, organisations and individuals in prioritising social and environmental sustainability. Aligning the business events industry with the UN SDGs creates an opportunity to leverage the sector’s influence, innovation and global reach in support of sustainable development. This not only benefits society and the environment, but also enhances the industry’s competitiveness, resilience and long-term viability.
MeetEngland supports the Sustainable Development Goals.
With these goals in mind and in partnership with #MEET4IMPACT and GDS-Movement, we have developed an Impact Framework to assist CVBs, venues and event planners in setting objectives and measuring progress across eight areas of impact: Natural, Built, Political, Cultural, Financial, Human, Intellectual and Social.
Make your event more sustainable
Find information to help you plan more environmentally-friendly and impactful events.
PDFDownload (764.17 KB)Sustainability guides
Helping you plan sustainable, low carbon events with practical tips and action points.
PDFDownload (4.31 MB)Sustainability checklists
Evaluate the eco credentials of your event from every angle – including food, energy, water, production and travel. These simple yet effective checklists are designed to help you make more sustainable choices.
MeetEngland is a signatory of the Net Zero Carbon Events pledge, a global initiative for the events industry to address climate change and embrace sustainability practices, launched by the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC) at the UN Climate Change Conference in 2021 (COP26). Over 500 signatories have committed to take action and work towards achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The Sustainability Hub for Events (SHE) is an AI-powered, free-to-use platform offering tools and resources to help planners manage their events’ carbon footprint and build strategies for long-term event legacy and positive impact. SHE is an initiative led by Gevme in partnership with Net Zero Carbon Events and the Strategic Alliance of National Convention Bureaux of Europe.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an independent, non-governmental institution that publishes regulations to help standardise best practises across global industries, including event planning.
ISO 20121 is a set of guidelines for sustainable event management, helping organisations to consider the social, economic and environmental impacts of their events and integrate sustainability practices in their event planning and execution.
Sustainable accreditation schemes provide third-party verification that a company is operating within a set of sustainability standards.
- The Green Meetings certification administered by Green Tourism is an accreditation specific to the meetings and events industry. It provides event venues with an opportunity to evaluate their environmental and social impact, set out strategies for improvement and communicate their commitment to sustainability.
- The Green Key certificate is available to conference centres, hotels, hostels, small accommodations, campsites, holiday parks and attractions to verify their commitment to a standard of excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation.
- ECOsmart accreditation by Greengage Solutions is a certification system for hotels, meeting venues, short stay apartments and pubs with meeting rooms to demonstrate their commitment to environmental sustainability and achievement of recognised sustainability standards.
- Green Destinations certifies destinations, businesses and communities that practice responsible tourism. They also provide support and training to help destinations and businesses meet their standards for environmental and social responsibility.
- The Biosphere certification awarded by the Responsible Tourism Institute (RTI) offers a methodology for sustainability management for tourism destinations and businesses. Aligned to the UN SDGs and targets, Biosphere provides a digital platform to coordinate among stakeholders and address socio-cultural, environmental and economic aspects in sustainability management and certification.
- EarthCheck offers certification, consulting, advisory and training services for sustainable destinations and tourism organisations.
Integrating sustainability practices into event planning is a complex process, but event planners have access to new technology to help measure, reduce and report on your events’ environmental impact. With the help of artificial intelligence (AI) these tools can predict an event’s carbon footprint and identify opportunities for improvement, from sourcing energy-efficient venues and eco-friendly vendors to optimising waste management and delegate transportation.
Here are some examples of tools to help integrate sustainability practices and reporting into your event planning:
- TRACE by isla is a carbon measurement tool to accurately measure, visualise and report on event impact in real time. Learn more by downloading the Event Carbon Measurement Starter Pack from isla, a free educational resource with information and practical steps to get started.
- event:decision offers an AI-powered carbon footprint tracker and bespoke assistance to help event planners measure, report on and improve the environmental impact of events.
- You. Smart. Thing. is a travel management platform for destinations, venues and event suppliers that offers personalised travel plans to reduce the carbon footprint of events.
- Thrust Carbon is an intelligence platform helping companies report on and reduce their carbon footprint through sustainable travel planning.
Diversity, inclusion and accessibility
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Pathway
Understand more how to embed diversity, equity and inclusion into your event design.
The framework gives wider definitions and best practices in understanding DEI. It explores the relevance within event transformation and offers practical advice to support organisations and event teams to accelerate positive change.
