EXPERTS
I’ve heard about the UN SDGs. What are they?
an exercise to engage stakeholders to understand what environmental, social and governance issues are important to them. In the events sector, we have ISO 20121, which is the standard around how to plan a sustainable event. Within ISO 20121, there is the section for identifying your issues. So, how do we stop someone just picking an easy SDG? By changing the way events are planned so that they’re planned in a way that considers the impact of the events and we do that using recognised standards.
Ell e Ashton Mel , commun t le d t event sust n b l t consult nc , sl
FP: e Sustainable Development Goals are the United Nations framework for how the world will work for everybody. ere are 17 Sustainable Development Goals in total and most of them interconnect. You shouldn’t be focused on working with all of them, but instead, associations can start by selecting a smaller number of SDGs that are most relevant to their industries and sectors. From
Sh wn Mc nle , pr nc p l t Cle r Current Consult n
Many pledges claim to help your organisation achieve net zero and carbon neutrality, but how do I know they’re authentic? FP: e word is credibility. ere are all sorts of industry associations within the event sector, we’re seeing all sorts of labels and badges and initiatives and resources. But are they
If you’re going into these initiatives, expecting that they’re going to give you the silver bullet of exactlywhat you need to do, you’re not going to nd it
F on Pelh m , CEO of Pos t ve Imp ct Events
a meetings perspective, we now have no choice but to address SDG 13, Climate Action, to combat climate change and its impacts. Government policy, corporate policy, sponsor expectations and attendee expectations mean they expect to know what the carbon impact of the event is. Could the SDGs be used for ‘greenwashing’? Organisations saying that their activities align with certain goals but not actually doing much. FP: Choosing what you deem is the easiest SDG to follow is a form of greenwashing because it says: “Look we’ve done loads on this”, but it was very easy. Organisations need to take a materiality standpoint when choosing its SDGs. Materiality is
credible? What’s credible is anything that is aligned with United Nations work and recognised by United Nations or is an international standard body such as ISO or UN. It really is just me in the office! How can I make a difference? NZ: If you’re one person and you are going to have an in-person meeting, home in on waste management because you can start a track toward zero waste. You need to make sure all your RFPs are asking for recycling, make sure it’s in the contract, make sure it’s happening. You should also focus on reducing. Look at everything you have for the event and ask yourself, ‘Do we really need this? Can we cut down the number of signs?’ ere
N nc Z v d , pres dent of sust n ble-meet n s consult nc MeetGreen
Gu B wood , ch ef ch n em er t Glob l Dest n t on Sust n b l t Movement
AMIMAGAZINE.GLOBAL 2022 #1 11
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