Event organizers can now report on sustainability issues with new guidance published this week by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
Event organizers can now report on sustainability issues with new guidance published this week by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
The events sector is diverse: its activities range from business meetings, conferences, and exhibitions to sports and cultural festivals – all of which have impacts on the economy, environment and society. These impacts need to be considered, measured and shared in order to improve the sustainability performance of the events industry, says GRI.
The new Event Organizers Sector Supplement (EOSS) will enable event organizers to report their sustainability performance in a comparable way. The sustainability reporting guidance, tailored for the events sector, aims to make reporting more relevant for event organizers by defining how to provide qualitative and quantitative information on sustainability issues. In addition to more widely applicable issues such as greenhouse gas emissions and waste, the guidance helps event organizers report on more specific issues including attendee travel, legacy of the event, and initiatives taken at the event to promote sustainability and transparency.
“Over the last ten years there has been a growing interest in the ‘greening’ of events, with more and more organizations considering the sustainability performance of their activities” says Maaike Fleur, Senior Manager Reporting Framework at the Global Reporting Initiative. “Public sustainability reporting is still quite a new concept for event organizers, but we anticipate that this new guidance will help them be more transparent about the impacts of their activities.
“Reporting is also about sharing best practices and can enhance learning for event organizers not yet so familiar with sustainability strategy and reporting. Attendees are interested to know the sustainability strategies behind events. Events are a significant business investment so it is vital that we start measuring and reporting sustainability impacts if we are to move to a sustainable global economy,” added Fleur.
The Event Organizers Sector Supplement provides reporting guidance that is suitable for all types and sizes of events. The guidance covers the complete project life cycle of an event, from bid to planning, execution and, finally, post-event – including the issue of event legacy. The Supplement can be used to report before or after an event has taken place.
The Supplement was developed according to a multi-stakeholder process. Volunteers from events companies, governments, labor and civil society organizations were brought together in a Working Group to develop the guidance. The public then responded to two Public Comment Periods, before the Working Group took the consultation feedback into account and finalized the Supplement.
Bart King is a PR consultant and principal at Cleantech Communications.
Published Jan 27, 2012 11am EST / 8am PST / 4pm GMT / 5pm CET
Bart King is the founder and principal at New Growth Communications. He specializes in helping sustainability leaders develop thought leadership content and strategy