What is Carbon Dioxide?

  • A heat-trapping greenhouse gas found around the world and in all living things
  • Produced by humans more than any other greenhouse gas
  • Responsible for most of global warming
  • Generated by burning gasoline and fossil fuels
  • Added to the atmosphere faster than natural processes can remove it
  • Stays in the atmosphere 50 years to thousands of years
  • Mixes with other greenhouse gasses as air moves around the world. The concentration of a greenhouse gas is roughly the same no matter where it is measured

Carbon Emissions & Offsets

Conferences and events can have both positive and negative impacts on the communities in which they are held:

Offsets bridge the gap:  Some emissions are impossible to avoid. Impact can be mitigated through carbon offsets and funding greenhouse gas and renewable energy projects that reduce greenhouse gases.

Carbon Offsets

A carbon offset is a project implemented specifically to reduce the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Offsets are so named because they counteract or offset the purchaser’s GHG emissions.

Carbon Offsets

Scope 3 Emissions

In recent years, collecting emissions data at all tiers has evolved at a rapid pace within corporate sustainability. At both event and organizational levels, we continue to witness a dramatic acceleration in the assessment and reporting of sources that fall under the category of Scope 3 emissions.

What are Scope 3 emissions?

These refer to the “indirect” greenhouse gas impacts of a company’s supply chain. They encompass the areas beyond an organization’s direct control such as business travel, employee transportation, and material manufacturing and disposal. Because of the complex, interconnected, and nuanced reach of Scope 3 emissions, they have historically fallen into a reporting “gray area” within emissions responsibility. Given their extensive breadth across an enterprise, Scope 3 emissions often comprise the vast majority of a company’s carbon footprint!

Presently, under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s current Corporate Standard, Scope 3 reporting is voluntary, but all signs indicate this domain will be one of the most significant categories at the forefront of climate action, decarbonization strategies, and corporate disclosure. Event emissions, by their very nature, nearly always reside in the realm in Scope 3. As a third-party consultant, with extensive conference footprint assessment experience, our team at MeetGreen can help to benchmark your event’s emissions impact as well as supporting specialized investigation of your Scope 3 emission sources that might operate outside the traditional purview of your sustainability team.

Carbon Offsets Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Demonstrates a company’s environmental commitment
  • Supports local projects that reduce emissions and are verified and validated through stringent standards
  • A global market-based mechanism for reducing emissions
  • Emissions can be generated in one location and verified and validated to reduce emissions in another location

Cons

  • Although the best way to reduce emissions is to not generate them, carbon from air travel to/from events is unavoidable
  • The most efficient way to lower emissions is to use newer technologies, which is not always possible at event venues

Carbon Offsets Considerations

Sample Event Carbon Profile

Venue 2%
Hotel 8%
Flights 90%

Offset Project Categories

Sample Offset Projects

Carbon Offset Resources

  • 1
    Carbon Fund – Reduce what you Can, offset what you can’t.
  • 2
    Carbon Offsets – This short video explains how carbon credits work and introduces Qiewie, a company creating a carbon credit marketplace for consumers.
  • 3
    Causes of Climate Change – Human activities are driving the global warming trend observed since the mid-20th century.
  • 4
    Climate Change for Beginners – A kid friendly resource with information, games, and activities.
  • 5
    Climate Change FAQ – Frequently asked questions about climate change in top categories.
  • 6
    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.
  • 7
    What is a Carbon Footprint – A video explaining what a carbon footprint is.