Demonstrating their ongoing commitment to sustainability, the German Convention Bureau (GCB) has balanced carbon emissions for its Germany stand at IMEX 2014 and even managed to reduce the CO2 value per exhibitor by 12.7%. Information is available at: www.germany-meetings.com
The Meeting- & EventBarometer 2014, published recently by the German Convention Bureau (GCB) and its partners, highlights the importance of sustainability in the meetings and conference sector: Over 80% of questioned suppliers and 66% of event planners believe that sustainability will become increasingly important in the meetings industry.
Matthias Schultze, Managing Director of the GCB, says: “Sustained commitment is an opportunity for the sector and especially for Germany as a viable location for conferences and meetings in the future. Consequently, the GCB assumes responsibility and provides impetus to establish sustainable meetings as the standard both in its own organisation and in the German events sector.”
German exhibitors support the GCB’s sustainability objectives
An example of this is the GCB’s Germany stand at the annual IMEX. After receiving the IMEX Green Exhibitor Award last year, the GCB again placed great value on a sustainable presence at the show which took place from 20 to 22 May 2014 in Frankfurt.
After balancing carbon emissions at its stand for the first time in 2013, the GCB introduced a new calculation of the carbon footprint this year and produced concrete development data. One statistic stands out: the environmental balance for exhibitors’ participation at IMEX – the most important part as it accounts for 43% of emissions – improved significantly. When this was calculated for individual exhibitors, it reveals a reduction of 12.7%. Before the event the GCB appealed to exhibitors at the joint Germany stand to operate in a sustainable way, for example by not printing brochures or handing out give-aways at the stand. Exhibitors were also encouraged to make journeys to and from the location by rail or other forms of public transport.
Overall for the Germany stand at IMEX 2014, an emission value of 87.646 tonnes of CO2 equivalent was calculated – a rise of approximately 2% compared to 2013 which can be attributed mainly to the increased number of exhibitors.
Positive developments in stand construction and catering
Approximately 34% of the emissions were caused about by the construction of the stand – a small increase of 3.4% due to the larger stand area (60 square metres more) and the increased use of material and rented furniture.
Approximately one fifth of the CO2 emissions generated this year were created by catering at the Germany stand. A glance at the details shows a very positive development: due to the focus on ecological, local meals with low meat content, emissions caused by food were reduced by a substantial 30%.
Only around 2.3% of the emissions associated with Germany’s presence at IMEX 2014 were caused by the GCB. In fact, the GCB succeeded in particular through the substantial reduction of business trips compared to last year, reducing emissions in this area by an impressive 53%.
