Impact: Responsible Event Review, Event Industry Update

Impact Review Q3 2024 event industry sustainability performance update

Oct 2024 in event:decision, Impact

 

The second of event:decision’s 2024 Impact updates on event industry sustainability performance brings you a summary of the state of sustainability.

Who are event:decision?

A team of EventProfs now providing data to over 200 event and agency brands. We provide proof points for responsible planning, by measuring the sustainable performance of your event. Our proprietary tools and services with which we support the industry, are:

1. Track, event carbon audit & advisory services.
2. Impact: Responsible Event Reviews provide ESG assessments, benchmarking and certification.
3. Evolve, association, congress and exhibition sustainability services.

All three widely used by event brands and driven by commercial factors, by legislative demand and, dare we say, a moral imperative to deliver events ‘better’.

 

Industry Performance

The event:decision Impact tool quantifies event sustainability performance by the number of factors within each of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) that individual events and planners are actioning.

These statistics are the results of self-assessment by event owners, directors and producers, scoring if <30 factors across ESG are (1) being actioned (2) not being actioned or (3) not applicable to event type.

An audit on each submission is carried out to ensure that responses provided align with the nature of the event being delivered.

Here is where we stand across the event sector on ESG as a whole, from April to October 2024.

 

 

What does this mean?

Environmental factors actioned have fallen very slightly, from 61% actioned, on average, to 56% actioned. This is not a significant* reduction.

Social factors are consistently actioned at a lower level than environmental factors, but show a rise from 31% to 37% actioned, on average. No surprise given the relative youth of serious discussion regarding the social benefit of events in many areas of the event industry.

Governance (event organising processes) ranks the highest, as befits a professional industry at 66% at the end of Q3-2024.

 

Focus

We highlight some of the most noticeable factors, by virtue of being well-covered by planners, or the opposite of such, as defined by Impact: Responsible Event Reviews:

Environmental factors

• Over 80% of planners state that they are reporting the carbon emissions related to their events. This appears high given data reported by major carbon calculators, potentially as users of Impact: Responsible Event Reviews demonstrate an appetite for sustainability inherent in their planning.
• 3/4 planners consider F&B menus from an environmental perspective, demonstrating an awareness that menu-choices are a factor over which there is direct control.

Social factors

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within an event is a factor considered by more planners than any other social factor.
• Fewer than 1 in 4 planners are consciously measure the economic impact to the local area when planning an event.

Governance factors

• Ensuring that event supply chain has relevant insurance cover is a top priority for planners in planning governance.
• Being able to provide event-related emissions data to ESG analysts under environmental reporting regimes, both active and incoming, is a factor under consideration by only 4 in 10 planners.

 

How do we improve both Environmental and Social metrics?

Take a look at the ESG metrics under assessment within the event:decision Impact tool.

You can do so with no commitment or financial charge, simply by Creating A Profile on event:decision. After all, our aim is to support the transition of the event industry toward a more sustainable future.

There are other resources available, both free and paid, including the UN SDGs and an updated ISO for event planners in 2024-5. To understand and benchmark your own events, event:decision provides proof points for responsible planning, by measuring your event sustainability performance.

For more details about both Track (carbon) reporting, Impact (ESG) Assessments and Evolve (Exhibition and Association events) get in touch.

*(Significance at the 95% level for given SD and n)