COP27 and the Event Industry's Quest for Sustainability

The conclusion of COP27 leaves the global community with many unanswered questions around the phasing out of fossil fuels, how to keep the 1.5C alive and the need for a new fund to help developing countries deal with the immediate impacts of climate change. It is clear that the issues we face cannot be solved in such a short space of time. But we all have a responsibility to do our bit to contribute towards global sustainability goals. There is no better time to look at some of the challenges faced by the Event Industry so we asked Gintare Einoryte from our Sustainability Team to unpick key COP27 themes and explain how they filter down to the event industry, sharing insights from our progress in 2022 along the way.

"One of the most significant takeouts from COP27 was the emergency we are facing from fossil fuel emissions . Fossil fuel emissions are set to hit record highs in 2022 and every industry is becoming increasingly aware of the need to accurately track and report its carbon emissions. We work closely with A Greener Festival to reduce and measure our CO2 impact at events including American Express presents BST Hyde Park and All Points East. Detailed CO2 analysis and subsequent reductions have been made at both sites and it is clear that we are only just beginning this journey.?More data was collected at both events for the CO2 analysis than for any previous year. Data was meticulously collected by area managers, including travel and transport figures for audiences, staff and artists; waste, recycling and composting tonnages; power logs; and food and drinks sales and ingredients, which provides us with a very robust Carbon Footprint to work on reducing over future editions.

It was an important year for BST Hyde Park as we were undergoing recertification for ISO 20121 Event Sustainability and ISO 14001 Environmental Management certifications. We had external and on-site audits assessing our management procedures and on-the-ground practices, ensuring we adhere to the international standards and have a management system that encompassess all areas of the event.

Power and our use of it on site has been a big focus across all events in 2022. Our long-term goal is to run sites with 100% renewable energy and a smart power plan, drawing on Solar, Battery and Generator systems for remote locations. At American Express presents BST Hyde Park we used a peak sharing battery system with 3 generator shared load which really pushed boundaries of smart temp energy systems on events. Real time telemetry of all systems showed us any peaks, kWh per litre of fuel used and kWh generation per source (solar / battery / genset). Monitoring of 2018 / 2019 / 2022 fuel comparison was carried out daily to review against targets.

Working in collaboration with Enterprise we trialled electric golf buggies and gators at events throughout the summer, culminating at Luno presents All Points East. Some key considerations for our Site Management team included battery charge lifetime and ease of charging on a busy site like this one. Overall we loved our electric experience! Strategically placed electric gators and buggies ensured we had charged vehicles where they were needed. We hope to be able to make our sites free from flammable liquids in the future so this is a great step in the right direction.

There is still a lot of work to be done around Waste Management. In 2023 it will become a much bigger focus in our advance planning with assessments from the offset - what are we bringing on site and do we need it? This summer we made great strides in our mission to?tackle plastic pollution with many of our sites banning the sale of single use plastics. Engaging our?visitors with?on-site?resources is key to making the vision of a plastic-free site a reality and they are invited to bring their reusable bottle and fill up at our multiple drinking water stations.?My Cause volunteers supported front of house waste segregation between compostables and mixed recycling.?

We've proactively managed the materials coming into the festivals and being served from bars and traders so that we only have compostables and mixed recycling (mostly cans)?front?of house. The My Cause volunteers add huge value to this initiative and it has worked extremely well. The more that the audience are aware of this the more they can engage and help us to segregate even more successfully on future shows.

Making events more sustainable is about us making more conscious decisions by sharing our learnings, promoting collaboration and implementing innovation in the industry. I hope that our events contribute to global sustainability goals and inspire social change.