Signatories to Net Zero Carbon Events (NZCE), an industry
initiative to address climate change, are expected to start reporting on their progress towards cutting emissions as the scheme moves into the ‘implementation
phase’.
And while organisers of the scheme are confident most of the
600 pledgees will file before the 2026 deadline, they have not ruled out
repercussions for those who don’t.
Since its launch at Cop 26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021,
Net Zero Carbon Events has developed a bank of resources to support events
industry organisations on their journeys to net zero carbon emissions. These
include seven detailed guides on carbon reduction related to venue energy; waste
management; logistics; travel and accommodation; food and food waste; offsetting
and measurement.
The campaign is now focused on implementation in each of
these areas, and James Rees, president of the Joint Meetings Industry Council
(JMIC), which is driving the NZCE initiative for the industry said
organisations were now very much in the ‘doing phase’.
“What we are seeing this year is a shift to action. If 2021
was about launching the concept, 22 was about producing the NZCE roadmap, and
23 was about producing detailed methodologies from the workstreams, then this
year is about implementation.
“The signatories of NCZE now have the tools to start getting
to work and we are expecting the first progress reports to start coming in this
year. As part of the NCZE pledge signatories are expected to provide progress
reports based on their roadmaps.”
As things stand there is no official penalty for signatories
of the pledge who fail to produce a report, but Rees held the door open for
some kind of sanction. A perceived lack of rigour around implementation has
been one of the main criticisms of NZCE.
“Because we are in that early stage of official reporting,
it's not a question that's come up. But if in two years’ time, a pledgee has
done nothing or is going backwards, then we will have to review our position on
that. I would be surprised if that happens though. I think this year we will
see a real head of steam with official reporting coming through.”
Rees, who is also executive director conference and
exhibitions at ExCeL, in London said the venue was using the methodologies
produced by NCZE to help cut its own emissions and was now finalising its first
progress report.
He added: “What the industry was crying out for was
leadership on this issue and that’s what NCZE is providing without a shadow of
a doubt, and it’s well constructed, it's well presented, and the documents are
usable and workable and realistic.
“But that doesn’t mean organisations can’t seek other
accreditations and stamps at the same time. At ExCeL we work with a consultancy
called PlanetMark for example, and then there are all the different ISO
relating to different parts of an organisation.”
