According to entertainment industry environmental organisation, Julie’s Bicycle, concerts, festivals and other cultural events can now be more transparent about their sustainability performance, thanks to new guidance published by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
Julie’s Bicycle helped developed the guidance, particularly from the perspective of the arts and creative industries, as part of an international, multi-stakeholder working group and a series of consultations with the public.
The new Event Organizers Sector Supplement (EOSS) provides tailored guidance for the events sector on reporting their sustainability performance. It is suitable for all types and sizes of events, ranging from business meetings, conferences, and exhibitions to sports and cultural festivals – all of which have impacts on the economy, environment and society. These impacts need to be considered, measured and shared in order to improve the overall sustainability performance of the events industry.
The EOSS guidance will enable event organisers to report their sustainability performance in a comparable way and aims to make reporting more relevant for event organisers by defining how to provide qualitative and quantitative information on sustainability issues. This includes widely applicable issues such as greenhouse gas emissions and waste, to more specific issues including attendee travel, legacy of the event, and initiatives taken at the event to promote sustainability and transparency.
The comprehensive guidance covers the complete project life cycle of an event, from bid to planning, execution and, finally, post-event – including the issue of event legacy – and can be used to report before or after an event has taken place.
‘Over the past ten years, there has been a growing interest in the “greening” of events, with more and more organisations considering the sustainability performance of their activities,’ says Maaike Fleur, Senior Manager Reporting Framework at the Global Reporting Initiative. ‘Public sustainability reporting is still quite a new concept for event organisers, but we anticipate that this new guidance will help them be more transparent about the impacts of their activities.
‘Reporting is also about sharing best practices and can enhance learning for event organisers not yet so familiar with sustainability strategy and reporting,’ he adds. ‘Attendees are interested to know the sustainability strategies behind events. Events are a significant business investment so it is vital that we start measuring and reporting sustainability impacts if we are to move to a sustainable global economy.’
‘The arts and cultural industries offer an excellent opportunity for taking to scale the practical framework that the EOSS represents for transparent reporting on sustainability across the board,’ says Julie’s Bicycle CEO, Alison Tickell. ‘The EOSS is a timely and vital tool in helping to trigger this cultural transformation.’
The Supplement was developed using to a multi-stakeholder process bringing together volunteers from events companies, governments, labor and civil society organisations from around the globe in a Working Group. The public then responded to two Public Comment Periods, before the Working Group took the consultation feedback into account and finalised the Supplement.
Download the Event Organizers Sector Supplement
More: www.globalreporting.org
More: www.juliesbicycle.com
