What do you think the impact of the coronavirus will be on making events more sustainable and on climate change?
On the one hand, we think that the industry will be less able to invest in training for their teams on understanding how to make their events more sustainable.
On the other hand, there has been unprecedented demand for online events which will hopefully reduce the need for unnecessary meetings with associated flights. We are excited to see innovation to improve the virtual event experience so that they can compete with live events.
China has shown a sharp reduction in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions after travel bans and quarantines were implemented in response to the virus. Although increased home electricity use if everyone works at home might offset the reduction in CO2.
If one silver lining in this awful situation is that business professionals think twice about hopping on a plane to attend a 30 minute meeting, then that is a positive step towards reducing CO2 emissions.
There are some silver linings to this as the team has pointed out. The events industry is taking a hammering and will do over the coming months. I do hope that what we see into the future, if we can withstand the situation, is that people want to make sure that sustainability is a top priority rather than an add on. It should be the main point on everyones minds when creating an event
I agree completely - whilst the industry as a whole is taking a huge hit right now, I think lockdown and the restrictions that have been put in place are no bad thing for the environment. We are looking into new AV possibilities to do virtual events which would definitely help with emissions from travelling to events, especially over seas.
I think (well I hope anyway!) that the positive changes for the environment to come out of this will make people think a little bit more about the impact they have on the planet on a daily basis and try and make their events greener!
I’ve written a guide - Sustainability, Safety and Events in a Post-Lockdown Era and thought I would share with you, in case it’s of interest. It includes recommendations on how to balance the safety of your attendees with responsibility to the Planet.
You can find it here - do feel free to contact me if you have any comments or anything to add!
