As part of their support of a more sustainable UK events industry, Venue Search London have just been awarded a Carbon Plus certification from leading carbon reduction and offsetting consultants, Carbon Footprint.
Their annual carbon has been calculated covering the team’s business and commuting travel, homeworking and office energy consumption from the last 12 months and they have offset twice this estimate via two Gold Standard offsetting schemes.
The first is a UK tree planting scheme which mainly plants in school locations, helping to educate children and support wildlife habitats whilst sequestering carbon emissions. For each tCO2e offset, one tree is planted in the UK and an additional tCO2e is offset through a VCS Tree Buddying project to guarantee the emission reductions.
The second supports international community projects within developing countries that have strong additional benefits beyond reducing carbon emissions. These include health benefits, saving low-income families money and reducing deforestation and include efficient household cook stoves and clean drinking water projects.
However, Venue Search London appreciate that our carbon footprint represents just a fraction of the total carbon emissions from the events we place in (even when we place them in their top sustainable venues in London).
By way of example, based on an estimate by Event Decision, a typical one-day conference in a London venue with delegates travelling from the London and South-East region, will emit a total of 20 tonnes of carbon (tCO2e). To offset this with Gold Standard schemes will cost around £250.
Sam Gill commented, “We appreciate that, whilst offsetting is not providing a long-term solution to tackling climate change, having your event carbon measured is the first step in building awareness of your event’s impact and the many ways you can reduce it in the future, through venue selection, catering and most importantly location, since travel to and from events is often the largest contributor”.
“We are delighted to be working closely with Greengage and Event Decision, who both offer measurement tools and consultancy services to support your carbon offsetting and reduction plans”.
The team at Venue Search London are determined to support event buyers on this journey and can recommend venues that have a proven track record in sustainability across their operations.
