Committees | Sustainable Committee
This is a wave that is coming at us and it is going to impact how we operate going forward.
Sustainability Committee Chair – Sarah Chew
SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE
Committee Objectives
- To create a mutual understanding of the value of sustainability as a community.
- To make our community understand the business opportunities of sustainable event solutions
- To promote greater awareness through knowledge sharing
- To encourage our community to adopt global standards and best practices
- To achieve greater sustainability by aligning with other industry associations
IFES has pledged to support and promote the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative amongst members.
Our Sustainability Roadmap
Better than yesterday, less than tomorrow…
Sustainability as a driver
The IFES Sustainability Survey in October 21 showed that 11 out of 35 respondents had achieved sustainability certification. Key drivers were to enhance reputation and strengthen client, supplier and partner relationships, achieve cost savings on material, consumption, waste and energy, and to reduce carbon emissions footprint across entire industry supply chain,
78.3% of survey respondents had already incorporated sustainability measures into their organisations. We will continue to promote knowledge-sharing amongst our members and assist them on their sustainability journeys.
Our annual Meeting at the World Summit 2022 in Amsterdam
The IFES World Summit opened on Thursday June 16th 2022 with an early morning networking walk/run through the picturesque streets of Amsterdam. Our group created awareness in their red IFES t-shirts, and whether running or ambling, everyone enjoyed the bright, sunny, fresh-air start to the sustainability morning of the summit.
Sustainability Fast-Forwarded
The Sustainability Fast-Forwarded section kicked off with Jörg Zeissig unpacking Sustainability as an Attitude, giving an in-depth look at the reasons for driving sustainability within our organisation, and urging us to change perspective and adopt sustainability as an attitude.
Kai Hattendorf’s presentation around the value of the Net Zero Carbon Initiative within the events industry and significance of the pledge made at Cop 26 followed, before Marieke van Eijndhoven came onstage to discuss the Sustainability Expectations of the Service Providers Industry, what to expect and how to meet these demands in our industry.
Stay Sustainable with Sustainability
Pauline Teyssedre and David de Dios co-presented ISO20121, a case study of the journey within their own companies, before Edwin Van Der Vennet’s take on ProjectC! A Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality exhorted all stakeholders to collaborate towards a sustainable future. “There is no time to waste, start NOW, start SIMPLE!” was the resounding message.
A robust panel discussion with all participants closed the Stay Sustainable with Sustainability slot, leaving attendees with some interesting ideas and potential solutions to take forward. In 2022, we continue to work hard towards education and implementation of best practices in sustainable development across our industry.
Carbon Footprint Calculator coming shortly
Learn more about us
The Sustainable Committee
sustainability[@]ifesnet.org
Sarah Chew: sarahchew[@]kingsmen-int.com
Jorg Zeissig: joerg.zeissig[@]holtmann.de