We asked meeting industry sustainability experts what trends will make the biggest impact in 2024. They discuss clean power, collaboration, generating data and lifecycle thinking.
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“One trend I’m seeing start to take off is clean power solutions for events. As the climate crisis intensifies, vendors are starting to come out with energy solutions that incorporate solar or cleaner fuel options into the mix. I’m really excited to see how these options expand over the next year or two.”
Julia Spangler
Owner, Ecosystem Events
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“Delivering a sustainable event requires collaboration between the meeting planners, their host facility and their vendors. The key to telling your sustainability story is data collection, metrics and benchmarking. Clients are starting to ask their vendors and partners for more data in order to track their sustainable footprint, creating benchmarks year over year that initiates the development of their own sustainability story to their stakeholders. Widespread encouragement for sustainable travel and events is helping to create transparency and accountability for the hospitality industry.”
Tiffany Eck
Associate Director of Destination Services, VISIT DENVER
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“This year, the World Economic Forum published the Global Risks Report 2023, highlighting the world's various risks. Considering the growing impact of climate change, sustainability continues to be a crucial global agenda.
“Measuring sustainability in destinations, events, companies and any organization that reflects the impacts of environmental, social and governance performance will continue to be crucial in 2024 and years ahead.
“Sustainability commitment, policies, strategy, objectives, targets and overall performance should be communicated to stakeholders through sustainability reports, websites, etc.
“Generating data and information about sustainability performance is key in the decision-making processes to create and/or improve programs and initiatives to drive change.
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”
Alejandra H. Zita, CIS, SECP
Sustainability professional for destinations and events
Global Destination Sustainability Movement (GDS-Movement) & EVENSUS
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“The meeting and event industry represents a dynamic ecosystem of activities, products and services necessary to meet and exceed the needs and expectations of a diverse clientele with annual calendars of meetings, conventions, exhibitions and special events. Consequently, all event activities, products and services either positively or negatively impact the triple bottom line: Planet, people, prosperity.
“Meetings and event industry stakeholders have the power to inspire, influence and facilitate the minimization and maximization of the most impactful negative and positive impacts, respectively.
“Ecosystem and lifecycle thinking are the future fundamentals to realizing a circular meeting and event industry. It is not what we do but how we do it—that needs to become our core focus at every stage of the event management lifecycle. We are deemed to be the greatest problem solvers on earth. Now is the time for us all to pay it forward by playing to this talent at every opportunity that presents itself.
“2020 to 2030 is the decisive decade in our lives. Decisions made during this period shape future life trajectories. Mistakes made carry lifelong consequences. Channel your time, energy and effort be the purposeful and meaningful difference to realizing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the UNFCCC Paris Agreement aspiration of reducing emissions by 45% by 2030!”
Troy Reynolds CMP EMD
Founder & Chief Experience Officer, Imaginneurs
MPI Sustainability Advisory Board
