Executive Summary

Events as a
Force for Good

Holistic Sustainability in the Events Industry

Read on to discover the key highlights of our latest white paper.

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Executive Summary

The events industry is known to be a hugely environmentally damaging sector due to its heavy reliance on natural resources and its throwaway culture; UK festivals alone are reported to generate 25,800 tonnes of waste and 24,261 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year (Vision 2025, 2020). Statistics from MeetGreen paint a similarly bleak picture stating that each conference attendee can produce approximately 2 kilograms of waste and over 180 kilograms of CO2 emissions a day (McGee, 2016). Further studies have found that international conferences, on account of the travel, are even more polluting, capable of creating more than 2,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases, which is equivalent to the emissions of 270 UK citizens for a whole year (Bernoville, 2022).

And these emission rates are concerning because global temperatures are rising. However, academics recognise a key opportunity for the events industry to pave the way for a sustainable future for the planet; by creating a legacy of change, including protecting natural resources, nurturing communities and promoting equality for all (Jones, 2017).

This white paper will explore the evidence and arguments for why monumental change is needed so imminently, and propose select examples for the events industry that can blend with the excellent initiatives and proposals already underway so that life on the planet, in all its fullness, can be protected and sustained.

UK Festivals

25,800 tonnes of
waste a year

24,261 tonnes of CO2
emissions / year

2 kilograms of waste
and over
180 kilograms of
CO2 emissions / day

About the Author

Emily Maule
Content and Event Strategist

emc3

Emily joined emc3 in 2022 after more than a decade in education, championing educational inequality, managing highly successful teams and leading pioneering curriculum design at a national scale. And now, she’s bringing this strategic approach to the events industry, to advance people’s understanding around goal-setting and audience behaviour.

What is the Problem?

What is the problem?
Why does the industry need to respond?

The event industry’s continued reliance on natural and human resources for its daily function and growth has led to a poor reputation for the sector and a direct association with being temporary, wasteful, unnecessary and excessive. And this reputation is not without reason. According to Peters (2020), more than a quarter of a million plastic tents get left behind at UK festivals each year. The common misconception is that charities then collect the tents or that they are repurposed in a responsible manner, in reality 90% of leftover tents will end up in landfill or incineration plants (Petter, 2018).

Figure 1 shows a common summer scene and represents a clear lack of environmental awareness that attendees can have and the gaps in the systems in place at events for managing waste. The issue for the industry now is defining what sustainability is and standardising practices to help lower negative impacts (Beech, 2014).

Figure 1 Reading Festival Tent Waste — Figure 1: Reading Festival Tent Waste (Shutler, 2021)

Global temperatures have risen and fallen over the last 4.5 billion years, with temperatures having been significantly higher and lower than current averages at various points (Chandler, 2007). However, the problem is the current rate and magnitude of change, which, since the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, has simply been unprecedented (Our World in Data, 2022, Dunne 2017).

Figure 2 shows global average temperature anomaly data, which refers to how different the temperature is compared to the longterm average. The data shows that global average temperatures have increased by more than 1°C since the early 1800s, with the 10 warmest years on record all occurring since 1998, with 9 of those since 2005 (C2ES, nd) and this pattern is only set to continue, unless drastic action is taken. The events industry is clearly not responsible for all of this, but the global events industry is set to be worth between $1,500 and $2,200 billion by 2028 (Dinesh et al, 2022 and López, 2022), and an industry of this size and significance has a crucial role to play in setting new standards.

Figure 2 Global average temperature anomaly — Figure 2: Global average temperature anomaly (Our World in Data, 2022)

Climate Change Data

How does it work?

One of the systems that experts use for tracking historical temperature data is global atmospheric CO2 concentration, as this acts as a reliable indicator of global temperatures. This data can be gathered very accurately in multiple ways, but notably through analysing preserved air in ice cores (Figure 3 and 4)

Figure 3 Taking an Ice Core — Figure 3: Taking an Ice Core (NSIDC, 2013)

Figure 5: Global atmospheric CO2 concentration (Our World in Data, 2022)

Through analysing these ice cores, experts can see that current global atmospheric CO2 concentrations far exceed those that the planet has seen for hundreds of thousands of years (Figure 5), and that the rate of change is like nothing Earth has experienced over the last 65 million years (Varanasi, 2022). It even exceeds the rate of change seen during the Earth’s warmest period, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), approximately 55 million years ago (Dunne, 2017).

Hausfather and Friedlingstein report that
global CO2 concentrations set a new record in 2022, at 417.2 ppm (2022), meaning that atmospheric CO2 concentrations are now 51% above atmospheric CO2 levels from before the Industrial Revolution (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Annual total global CO2 emissions, 1959-2022 (Hausfather & Friedlingstein, 2022)

Figure 7: Per capita greenhouse gas emissions, 2019 (Our World in Data, 2022)

However, it is important to note that these emissions are not generated evenly across the world, and as mentioned, the effects of these emissions are not evenly felt (Figure 7).

The scene has, therefore, been set for this white paper, its necessity and purpose being to support colleagues in the events industry to commence or continue with changes to protect the planet and its inhabitants.

But what is required and how can it be achieved?

What is Sustainability?

What is Sustainability

Sustainability: What Does It Mean and Where Did It Come From?

If ever there was a reigning buzzword, “sustainability” might take the crown. And this is, arguably, an appropriate accolade given the urgency with which individuals and organisations must act in order to limit as far as possible the life-changing, planet-altering consequences of climate change. However, there is still significant mystery around
the term, which means its progress is often stifled as a result. Furthermore, “sustainable development” is often used seemingly interchangeably with “sustainability”, even on the UN’s website, and so it is always helpful to start with some definitions.

In 1987, sustainable development (and later, sustainability) was defined by the United Nations Brundtland Commission as development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. In this white paper, the term “sustainability” is used with the deepest iteration of its definition, to refer to the process of providing for Earth’s current population, whilst actively ensuring Earth’s future population will also be able to survive and thrive. There are many tenets of this process, as will be discussed, but it is often depicted in a diagram with three intersecting circles (Figure 8). The diagram aids understanding by showing that for a process, project or goal to be “sustainable”, certain social, environmental and economic criteria must be met. For example, a project that seeks to promote sustainable agricultural practices with an end goal of protecting the physical environment, without any regard for the agricultural workers or the economic viability of the project, would not be considered sustainable. Transparency here is fundamental to the progress of sustainable practices across all industries, as it really is a holistic approach that is required.

A global focus on the concept of sustainability and sustainable development in policy can be traced back to 1972, where the UN Conference on the Human Environment attempted to examine the environmental consequences of human activity, and to “reconcile economic development with environmental integrity” (Purvis et al, 2018:683). Since this summit, there have been many iterations of the concepts around sustainable development, eco-development, environmentally sound development, even the Triple Bottom Line framework in accounting, but the common thread is this requirement of balancing economic, social and environmental factors in progress and development.

Figure 8: three pillars of sustainability (Purvis et al, 2018:682) — Figure 8: three pillars of sustainability
(Purvis et al, 2018:682)

Sustainability: Has There Been Progress?

There has been good progress. Ember, a global energy think tank, reports that wind and solar energy generated a record 22% of the EU’s electricity in 2022, and for the first time, overtook gas which contributed 20% (Jones, 2023). The report also predicts a 20% fall in EU fossil fuel generation in 2023, which will be a huge achievement. The event industry, too, is beginning to make concrete steps towards sustainability, helped with the introduction of the “Net Zero Carbon Events” initiative at COP26 (Net Zero Carbon Events, ND). The rest of the business world is adapting too. Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, writes that “climate risk is investment risk” (2022) and there is data to very much suggest that investors and consumers are recognising this, and demanding increasingly rigorous sustainability strategies, and consumers choose to pay more for more sustainable products and services (WEF, 2022). There is also evidence to suggest that the development of sustainable business practices is crucial for attracting talent and for increased productivity, and so if nothing else, the business value in “prioritising sustainability in corporate strategy” (WEF, 2022) is being recognised. And certainly since the early 2000s, companies are operating with new guidelines and policies. However, as will be explored in the next section, this can all too often just be smoke and mirrors, and the gains in renewable energy seen in Europe are still dwarfed by global CO2 emissions.

Sustainability: What is Greenwashing?

The discourse around sustainability has become so prominent and significant for consumers that increasing numbers of organisations are engaging in various forms of greenwashing, a process that Willis et al describe as a “many-headed beast”, as shown in Figure 9 (2023:1,3).

Some of the language with which the greenwashing is often achieved is shown in Figure 10, terms that marketeers and events professionals will be very familiar with due to their frequent use within industry. These words are vague, without set standards or definitions, and so can easily be very misleading. For example, when a product is advertised as using “50% less plastic”, the question must be asked, “50% less than when or what, compared to who?” Furthermore, the legal loopholes also often mean that none of these practices are illegal, and so consumers and investors should be looking to assess brands and opportunities carefully, to avoid being deceived. There is increasing regulation and so there should be more accountability in the future for brands that are claiming empty sustainability accolades. However, there is much work still to be done to prevent greenwashing from becoming even more sophisticated and subtle.

Figure 10: ill-defined green and sustainable terms (Willis et al, 2023:6)

Figure 9: Greenwashing (Willis et al, 2023:3)

Sustainability: What Are the Sustainable Development Goals?

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, see Figure 11) are now the most comprehensive set of standards for sustainability. The SDGs are the culmination of years of work by countries around the world to bring about positive, lasting change. The Millennium Development Goals, a set of 8 global goals, were launched to reduce extreme poverty by 2015, and then the SDGs were adopted in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which “provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future” (UN). There are 17 goals and collectively they address the different pillars of sustainability, however the most recent impact report details a bleak state of affairs for people and the planet (UN, 2022), and so more than ever, the events industry’s response to the sustainability crisis is critical.

Sustainability: What Is the Business Case for Sustainability?

There is consensus on consumers’ increasing prioritisation of organisations with clear sustainability goals and commitments, but there is another tenet to the business case for sustainability.

Natural capital, or ecosystem goods, includes assets such as rivers, plants, soil and animals. Services can be categorised into provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural, and include elements such as the provision of food, natural flood protection, photosynthesis, and wellbeing support (Land Use Consultants, 2021). These can also be categorised into marine and terrestrial ecosystems (Figure 13).

All of these assets and services provide benefit to humans and, ultimately, quantifiable value. For example, current estimates for the global value of coastal wetlands, which are fundamental to flood management around the world, sit at US $500 billion per year (Constanza et al, 2021a) and insect pollination services in Scotland have been valued at approximately £43 million per year. And that is even without considering the employment provided by the associated assets and services.

Figure 13: Marine and terrestrial ecosystems services (from now, 2023)