1
For CarbonNeutral® event certification the following emissions must be covered: attendee and staff travel, energy consumption at the event site and waste disposal.
2
A consultant specialising in carbon accounting, conducted the greenhouse gas emissions assessment for the event. The assessment included electricity consumed, waste produced, and air and ground travel of all delegates attending the event, as well as their hotel night stays.
3
GreenBiz has offset the emissions of its two flagship conferences – ‘Forum' and 'Verge' – with Natural Capital Partners since 2016 and added its 'Circularity' conference in 2019. CarbonNeutral® certification aligns with the GreenBiz mission to define and accelerate the business of sustainability.
4
GreenBiz makes its conferences CarbonNeutral® through a combination of efficiency measures such as beef-free menus and running its own micro grid at Verge, and renewable energy certificates (RECs) and external emission reduction projects from Natural Capital Partners.
Natural Capital Partners supplied US RECs to cover the electricity emissions of the events combined with verified emissions reductions from projects in Malawi, Guatemala, the US and Mongolia for the remaining emissions.
5
CarbonNeutral® event certification is communicated to conference delegates as one pillar of a wider sustainability programme. The programme includes a zero waste target, a recycling programme, an event app rather than paper programmes, and signage made from 100% recyclable materials.
The details of the sustainability programme are set out to all conference delegates in a talk at the start of the conference, as well as on a page on the conference website. In addition, the wifi password sheet is used to inform conference delegates that they are attending a CarbonNeutral® event.
At GreenBiz 19, the wifi password sheet was one way of communicating to conference delegates that they were at a CarbonNeutral® event.