Carbon Offsets In Event Planning

• Transportation: Plays a significant role in the carbon footprint of conferences. The fuel used by buses, taxis, shuttles, freight haulers, and aircraft contributes substantially to the emissions.
• Buildings: Fuel that lights, heats, and cools the hotels and venues we occupy.
• Manufactured Products (purchasing): Oil and other fossil fuels may power factories that produce goods we need, as well as the materials that go into the production of food, paper, plastics, fabrics, and other products that we give away at meetings.
• Waste management: Is critical to reducing conferences’ carbon footprint. Materials, especially food in landfills, can produce significant carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions as they decompose.
• Onsite Generation: Although not expected at conferences, many events use generators to power offsite functions, an additional source of carbon emissions.

A conference’s carbon footprint size varies depending on the above factors. Our corporate report provides estimates of typical carbon footprints based on data across all of the events we have measured and verified.

Typically, it is best to use a carbon offset or accounting company to calculate your conference footprint. However, in a pinch, MeetGreen has a generic carbon calculator that we use to estimate impact.

Plan A: Reduce!

The single most effective step you can take to diminish your meeting’s carbon footprint is to reduce the amount of carbon emitted in the first place. Options to reduce emissions include:

• Offering remote participation options and hybrid formats. Because air travel is typically the most significant source of carbon emissions (>80%), it is ideal to cultivate virtual attendance options to reduce impacts.
• Reducing:
  • Transportation that requires fossil fuels can be done by selecting host cities with good public transit links between the airport and conference venue, providing transit passes to attendees, encouraging attendees to walk, bike, or carpool, and shuttling using biofuels.
  • Energy use in the meeting venues and hotels you select. Select hotels and meeting venues with energy efficiency programs, such as turning off environmental controls when rooms are empty, using energy-efficient lighting, or sourcing green power.
  • Use of manufactured products, such as disposables, paper, promotional items, etc.
• Eliminating waste (mainly food waste) and reducing waste in landfills.

Plan B: Provide a carbon offset

Note: Carbon offset projects do not focus solely on reducing carbon but often work to reduce the level of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) greenhouse gases in the environment. These include methane, nitrous oxide, and hydrofluorocarbons. If you aim to direct your effort to reduce only carbon, research the projects in which the carbon offset provider participates.

Carbon offset projects can take a variety of forms:

• Investment in renewable energy, such as solar or wind power.
• Energy efficiency projects, such as retrofitting buildings with energy-efficient lights or HVAC systems.
• Capture and destruction of industrial pollutants such as HFCs, PFCs, and N2O.

Delivering a carbon offset for a meeting generally involves:

• Finding an offset partner organization.
• Working with the partner to estimate conference emissions.
• Ascribing a dollar value to the emissions footprint.
• Engaging a sponsor, delegates, or your organization to buy the offset.

A carbon offset offers a unique opportunity to estimate the emissions linked to your event or meeting. By investing in a project that actively reduces greenhouse gas emissions, you can effectively neutralize these emissions, contributing to a greener future.

Note: carbon offsetting does not directly reduce your emissions!

• Purchase offsets directly
• Integrate offsets into the price of admission.
• Offer attendees the choice to opt-in or opt-out during the registration process.

• Renewable energy initiatives
• Reforestation efforts
• Methane capture projects and more

Consider Fit:

• Is a carbon offset program right for my organization?
• Will attendees accept the option?
• Should the program be voluntary or mandatory?
• Is selecting one offset program too restrictive?

Consider Priorities:

• What are the priorities for considering an offset program?
• Is the focus strictly offsetting carbon emissions or including other emission pollutants?
• Does the offset cover only travel or other energy offsets such as hotel and venue?
• What kind of offset project does the organization want to support?
• Is it important where the offset project is located? Does it need to be local?

Consider Funding:

• Is the offset program funded by sponsors, the individual attendee, or both?
• Is the offset program going to be suggested to exhibitors?

1. One option is to use the program as a sponsorship opportunity and publicize that the sponsoring company has offset the event’s greenhouse gas emissions. This strategy gains powerful recognition for both the sponsor and the event.
2. A second scenario is asking attendees to offset their travel by contributing a specific amount as part of their registration fee. Make their contribution optional. Then, those who participate will be taking an active role in contributing to improving the environment.
3. A third option is to include the offset in the conference budget and let attendees know that the organization is doing this on their behalf.

For further information on the cost of carbon offsetting, read this article.

Do your research:

Many carbon offset providers are out there, and many different methods are used to measure the benefit of a provided offset. Most providers attain third-party certification since carbon offsets are an indirect carbon reduction method. Even with an independent certification, there are a few questions you can ask to ensure that the carbon offsets you purchase are environmentally beneficial and align with your values:

• Would the project occur regardless of your carbon offset dollars?
• How is the amount of CO2e eliminated by this project measured?
• Is the measurement based on long-term or short-term gains?
• What does the future hold for your project? If your dollars are going to reforestation, for example, what will happen to the trees once they have grown?
• What is the risk of deforestation or forest fires in the future?
• How is the carbon sequestration measured throughout the lifecycle of the tree?

Key questions to ask your prospective offset provider include:

• Do they provide offsets for meetings and events?
• How do they calculate event emissions? Do the calculations include transportation, buildings, and/or manufactured products?
• Do they only calculate emissions associated with climate change (such as carbon dioxide)? Or do they include emissions that affect public health (such as sulfur dioxide)?
• What type of event reports are they able to produce?
• What percentage of offset funds are retained for administration?
• Is the organization a registered charity that can provide audited financial statements?

• Including permanence (the lifetime of the project you’re investing in)
• Ensuring the project wouldn’t have happened without your funding
• Offset hasn’t been double-counted.

That’s a lot of research to do on your own, so an excellent way to ensure the legitimacy and quality of the offset is to look for certification by reputable third-party standards such as:

• Gold Standard
• Verified Carbon Standard (VCS)
• Climate Action Reserve (CAR)

• Carbon Fund – Reduce what you Can, offset what you can’t.
• Carbon Offsets – This short video explains how carbon credits work and introduces Qiewie, a company creating a carbon credit marketplace for consumers.
• Causes of Climate Change – Human activities are driving the global warming trend observed since the mid-20th century.
• Climate Change for Beginners – A kid friendly resource with information, games, and activities.
• Climate Change FAQ – Frequently asked questions about climate change in top categories.
• Green House Gas Calculator – Convert emissions or energy data into concrete terms you can understand — such as the annual CO2 emissions of cars, households, and power plants.
• What is a Carbon Footprint – A video explaining what a carbon footprint is.

We have gathered information about carbon offsets and emissions in a guide to walk you through the various topics:

• Carbon Dioxide
• Carbon Offsets
• Carbon Emissions & Offsets
• Pros and Cons of Carbon Offsets
• Considerations for Carbon Offsets
• Sample Event Carbon Profile, Options, and Costs
• Offset Project Categories
• Sample Offset Projects