Net Zero Carbon Events to launch Roadmap at COP27

The Net Zero Carbon Events initiative will launch its Roadmap at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP27, on 11 November.

The Roadmap creates a common framework for all event industry stakeholders to meet the net zero goal, in addition to providing a pathway for individual organisations as well as industry-wide action areas.

The action areas have been identified where collaborative effort is needed along with a framework for measuring and evaluating progress.

The launch, taking place on Decarbonisation Day, will be held in Room Lotus, in Area B of the COP27 Venue at Sharm El Sheikh, starting at 10:00 am local time in Egypt.

The event is open to everyone and will also be streamed live. It will include presentations, panel discussions and Q&A sessions covering:

  • The role of the events industry for societies and economies
  • Net Zero Carbon Events – the meetings and events industry answer to Climate Change
  • The official release of the Net Zero Carbon Event Roadmap, and implementation of the Roadmap in the months to come.

ReesAmong the industry leaders speaking will be James Rees (pictured left), JMIC president; Kai Hattendorf, CEO UFI/ JMIC board member; Monica Lee Muller, managing director HKCEC; Charlie McCurdy, CEO of Informa Markets; Bob Priest-Heck, CEO freeman and Alan Steel, CEO JAVITS, along with Miguel Alejandro Naranjo Gonzalez and Conor Barry of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Contributing to the panel and Q&A session will be Derar Al Manaseer, director of Strategy & Investment ADNEC; Senthil Gopinath, CEO ICCA; Kai Hattendorf, CEO UFI / JMIC board member; Helen Sheppard, head of Sustainability RX and Edwin Van der Vennet, Sustainability Committee IFES.

Background

As at COP26, the launch is being arranged with the support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Launched in August 2021, the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative is the events industry’s global campaign to achieve net zero carbon by 2050. It now has over 400 supporting organisations from 55 countries.

About 225 operators have signed the Net Zero Carbon Events Pledge since its launch at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021, committing to publish their organisation’s pathway to achieve net zero before the end of 2023, with an interim target to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2030.