BRUSSELS — The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has joined Net Zero Carbon Events (NZCE), the events industry’s global initiative to combat climate change. NZCE’s goal is to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
GBTA is a professional business travel and meetings organization serving stakeholders on six continents. GBTA and its more than 8,000 members represent and advocate for the $1.357 trillion global business travel and meetings industry.
Sustainability is a key focus for the trade show industry. In the 2023 American Express Global Business Travel Global Meetings and Events Forecast, 80% of respondents said their organization considers sustainability when planning their meetings, with three-quarters saying they already have sustainable program strategies in place. Forecasts indicate that this focus will intensify with the rise of climate reporting metrics as organizers look to choose destinations and venues that promote sustainability. That’s what makes the NZCE so valuable.
Since its launch at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, NZCE has developed resources to support the events sector on their journey to carbon neutrality. These include a roadmap and advisory reports on venue energy, smart manufacturing and waste management, logistics, travel and accommodation, food and food waste, and offsetting and measurement.
GBTA joins an organising working group initiated by the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), the group representing the global business events industry. Initiating members include UFI, AIPC and ICCA. Other initial members include Emerald, Freeman, HKCEC, Informa, Javits Center, MCI, Messe München, RX and the Scottish Event Campus. Today, more than 30 leading meetings and events organisations from around the world contribute financially to the NZCE. In addition, more than 650 organisations have signed the pledge or are supporting the JMIC-led initiative.
“Travel to a show, whether it’s for booth builders, service providers, exhibitors or visitors, is one of the carbon drivers of an event overall. Partnering with GBTA provides us with the support we need to support our work on business travel and how to deliver it in the most sustainable way possible,” said Alex Alles, Executive Director of the Joint Meetings Industry Council. “With over 650 signatories and supporters of the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative worldwide, sustainability in the trade show industry is gaining momentum and is making good progress. Every day, more and more organizations are committing to developing and implementing their roadmap to net zero emissions, which inspires us to continue our work.”
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With the campaign now focused on implementation in each of these areas, GBTA and NZCE will work collaboratively with the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) on implementation of the travel and accommodation element.
“GBTA has unrivalled expertise and experience in the technical aspects of business travel and sustainability, including through the GBTA Foundation’s Sustainability Initiative. We are delighted to be working with GBTA and ICCA on this topic and look forward to aligning our work and developing common ground for all stakeholders in the future,” said James Rees, Chairman of JMIC.
GBTA is committed
“For our members, our industry and the work we do as an association, GBTA is deeply committed and active in creating a more sustainable future for global business travel. We are pleased to be part of the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative and to work with JMIC and other key organizations to harness the power of our collective efforts to ensure more net zero approaches in the very important meetings and events sector,” said Suzanne Neufang, CEO of GBTA.
ICCA is a founding member of NZCE. “We are delighted that the Global Business Travel Association is joining this extremely important initiative. One of our pillars as an organisation is sustainability, and ICCA is committed to working with our industry partners to advance the global goal of reducing carbon emissions,” said Senthil Gopinath, CEO of ICCA. “It is essential that the meetings and events community as a whole joins forces to advance sustainable practices and policies around the world, and as more organisations join us, we are moving closer to our goal of net zero emissions by 2050.”
Net Zero Carbon Events is open to all organizations involved in events and trade shows. Visit www.netzerocarbonevents.org/funding-opportunities