Exhibition industry. UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, is pleased to announce its release of a simplified version of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting guidelines dedicated to the exhibition industry. This adaptation of GRI’s widely accepted reporting framework was developed by a working group of UFI’s Sustainable Development Committee with the assistance of UFI education partner Positive Impact (UK).
UFI member organisations, ADNEC (UAE), AUMA (Germany), BPA Worldwide (USA), Direct Energy Centre (Canada), Reed Exhibitions (UK) and UBM (Netherlands) added their global experience to the creation of this reporting framework which meets the specific needs of the exhibition industry.
The template for sustainability reporting in the exhibition industry identifies the key indicators to be used for venues, organizers and service providers. It also includes the ten indicators which appear as a “top priority” across all three segments. These indicators include initiatives to reduce waste and negative
environmental impacts, financial benefits from sustainability initiatives, sustainable sourcing initiatives and benefits received from suppliers.
Paul Woodward, UFI Managing Director, commented, “The aim of this simple tool is to assist companies as they initiate the process of reporting sustainability achievements. It applies to companies of all sizes in the entire exhibition supply chain. By ensuring reporting consistency, the exhibition industry can position itself strongly in the face of the economic, environmental and social challenges we face today”.
Maaike Fleur, GRI Senior Manager Reporting Framework declared: “Industry associations are among the key players needed in this global effort to developing sustainability and GRI welcomes the efforts of UFI to support the exhibition industry in producing sustainability reports using the GRI Guidelines.
The exhibition industry has a great opportunity to leverage sustainability performance and to reach a wide audience”.
The UFI template, and other information on UFI actions in the field of sustainability, is available at www.ufi.org/susdev.
