The event sector is being encouraged to take more, and earlier, action on climate change, ahead of the COP 26 conference, taking place at the SEC in Glasgow later this year. The call came at a special event, that involved representatives from the UNFCCC, the UK government and SME Climate Hub.

The meeting talked about the importance of the sector showing evidence of action ahead of the global conference on climate change. The event also saw the launch of ‘The Roadmap to COP 26: Event Sector Transformation’, a joint initiative between the UNFCCC, Race to Zero, SME Climate Hub, and event sustainability experts Positive Impact.

The campaign is intended to provide the roadmap for the events industry, a sector made up predominantly by SME’s, to raise awareness of the sector, engage in the UN’s sustainability goals, and input into an industry wide framework for sustainability.

Speakers at the event included Sir David King, Government Chief Scientific Advisor, 2000-2007, UK Government Permanent Special Representative for Climate Change, 2013-17; Miguel Naranjo, Programme Officer, UNFCCC; Andrew Griffith, UK’s Net-Zero Business Champion for COP 26; Johan Falk, Co-Founder and Head of the Exponential Roadmap Initiative, A Founding Partner of the SME Climate Hub; Kerrin McPhie, Head of Business Events, VisitBritain / VisitEngland; and, Richard Shackleton, Deputy Head of Mission, British Embassy, Budapest.

Miguel Naranjo, Programme Officer, UNFCCC, commented, “We have similar initiatives already in place within the fashion and sport sectors. We are acting as a neutral convenor to try and agree joint initiatives that help to reduce the sector’s impact on the environment. These are voluntary, free of consequence commitments, and are developed in conjunction with the sector. We are already having advanced conversations around the world (with the events sector) on how this could work.”