Fiona Pelham, chair of the ISO Committee on Sustainable Event Management, on business values, how to navigate through the jungle of eco labels and creating a sustainable development policy.
CIM: Suppliers don’t stop talking about sustainability, but the buyers?
Fiona Pelham: The majority of brands have commitments to sustainability. It may be the case that the buyers do not connect their business values with the logistics for their event. This is an opportunity for event planners to offer clients a service, which aligns with the CSR values of their brand.
Planners who care got confused: EU Flower, Green Globe, BS8901… What can we do about the green jungle?
Unfortunately as this topic grows in importance the number of labels grows too. There are a few steps to help navigate through the jungle: 1. Decide if you want a national or international label. 2. Decide if you want to follow a checklist approach or a management system. 3. Understand what the labels are for and how they are certified. Many labels are created to support a reduction in waste, water, energy and other environmental aspects, you may be interested in considering economic and social impacts too. Using a management system (BS8901) and a reporting framework (Global Reporting Initiative) will ensure you monitor sustainability throughout all elements of your way of working.
BS8901 is the British Standard on Sustainable Event Management. You are chairing the ISO Committee to define an international standard. What are its components?
ISO 20121 will build on the structure of BS8901. Components include: Identifying your negative environmental, economic and social impacts, setting objectives to address these, creating a sustainable development policy, identifying roles and responsibilities required to meet your objectives. The ISO development is an exciting process. We will have representatives from about 30 countries around the table contributing to a standard which will support all types of events in all countries.
Who sits at the table?
All countries have standard bodies and when an international standard is created an invitation is set to all international standard bodies. Representatives from each country will sit at the table but they will also engage with groups of experts from their own country. There is also the option for international associations to act as liaisons and attend the meeting. If anyone is interested in being involved they should contact their national standard body.
When will ISO 20121 be released?
Hopefully summer 2012.
