isla, the industry body for sustainable events, has released, its Temperature Check Europe report.
The report, which analysed nearly 1000 events from 22 countries across Europe, provides a data-backed snapshot of carbon emissions in European buiness events and serves both as a benckmark and a guide, helping businesses identify where meaningful sustainability progress can be made.
Climate change and progress in 2024
The report explains that 2024 was officially the warmest year ‘in 100,000 years’ and across the world cases of extreme weather intensified in 2024, with 617 extreme weather events, of which 219 were attributed to climate change.
The report says: “The reality is stark: the environment is changing, and the event sector is not immune
to these impacts. Businesses must decide how they will respond.”
Whilst the crisis deepened, 2024 also marked a year of progress in climate action. Global clean energy investments exceeded $3 trillion, double that of fossil fuels, signally that renewable energy is now the more financially viable choice for the future.
How climate change is affectng events
In 2023 and 2024 the total number of reported event disruptions caused by extreme weather
increased by 86.5%. The events industry is already experiencing the impact of climate change and the weather related cancellations are likely to increase.
Research by McKinley et al found that between 2004-2024 2091 events across, the world had been disrupted, with storms accounting for 81.9% of reported cases. The research shows the UK is the second highest country to have recorded examples of events that have been disrupted by extreme weather with Germany seventh and Spain tenth.
Extreme weather threatens crowd safety, disrupts transport infrastructure, strains supply chains,
drives up insurance costs and in the worst cases leads to cancellations. Due to their outdoor nature,
festivals and concerts have been most affected by extreme weather but exhibitions, sporting events,
and activations have also been impacted.
Flight disruptions, flooded venues, and overheating in poorly ventilated spaces are becoming real challenges for event organisers. On top of this, existing city infrastructures are not well prepared. The UK’s most popular city for conferences, London, is also the country’s most vulnerable city to extreme weather.
It is likely that this will challenge the traditional insurance model for events. Standard insurance
cover for adverse weather only covers indoor events, while outdoors usually have around a 14
days prior limit. In the case of extreme weather, there is rarely that much warning. This means the insurance costs for events will increase to ensure coverage. Festivals are already seeing this, with insurance premiums tripling in recent years
Event emissions
The biggest contributors to event emissions are:
- Audience travel (39%)
- Staff travel (17%)
- Production transport (14%)
- Buil production (12%)
However, audience travel is one of the least measured and hardest to control areas as it lacks reliable data.
Event type and emission profiles
The report has found that different event formats create different emission profiles and where those emissions come from also vary significantly by event type.
- Exhibitions generate the highest overall emissions across all event types.
- Activations appear to have the lowest emissions
- Meetings and roadshows rank second lowest in emissions
- Emissions from outdoor events are higher than indoor events
The growing influence of legal requirements and voluntary commitments
Legal compliance is a proven catalyst for action in the events sector.
The data shows that organisations legally required to report on sustainability are:
- Twice as likely to measure their full carbon footprint
- Twice as likely to have set carbon reduction targets
- More likely to use technology for monitoring, have a dedicated sustainability lead, and implement event carbon measurement practices
Barriers to progress
Despite growing momentum, it’s clear that many event organisations are still in the early stages of progress and date from TRACE highlights there is a long way to go before Net Zero.
The key findings were that budget, stakeholder buy in and lack of education are the top barriers to making progress.
The key findings from the report were:
- Benchmarks – for the first time the report presents industry benchmarks for event emissions but the report says that ‘the best benchmarks are your own’.
- Travel isn’t everything – Audience travel remains a major source of emissions, but it’s not the whole picture. Organisers have more influence than they realise. Smart decisions around production, freight and procurement can significantly reduce emissions. Leading by example can shift both supply chains and audience behaviour.
- Smart carbon swaps – From switching to plant based meals, to travelling economy instead of business class, our report highlights small changes that can make a big difference to your event’s carbon footprint.
By leaning into these changes now,
we can shape the future – rather than
be shaped by it. Events don’t have to
be passive victims of change. They
can be powerful drivers of it.isla Temperature Check Europe report
The full report breaks down emissions in different areas of the industry.
Source: www.exhibitionworld.co.uk
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