Bonn, 28 September 2022 – From pizza night to a wedding to a corporate event or even the Olympic Games, the new Green Events Tool (GET) can improve the sustainability of these gatherings. Launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow last year, the online tool is a user-friendly, end-to-end solution that can be used to lower greenhouse gas emissions and help reach reduction targets. GET is the outcome of close collaboration between the Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD), UN Environment (UNEP) and UN Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Conor Barry, Manager at UNFCCC said: “Born as a project to help the UN system plan and deliver more sustainable events, the Green Events Tool has evolved to become an instrument available to all interested stakeholders globally. We hope that it will contribute to reducing the impact of the events we all deliver and look forward to users’ feedback to keep improving and expanding it.”
GET is a free web-based platform that helps users evaluate the sustainability performance of events and improve their environmental footprint. Whether an event is personal, corporate or public, the tool does not require any specific expertise to be used, ensuring broad accessibility to it. To this end, it includes features such as a sustainability checklist for users to select various “greening” actions relevant to their specific event within the available resources they have.
As the tool was unveiled earlier in September, Dr. Alhorr, Founding Chairperson, GORD, said: “GET’s intrinsic value lies in simplifying the arduous processes needed to evaluate and improve events’ sustainability profiles.”
Greening an event may involve looking at categories such as transport, accommodation, catering, venue or energy use: the tool encompasses all these fields, and more. Not only does the system provide suggestions to support improving sustainability on all these aspects, but it also (optionally) allows for an event’s green performance to be verified by a third party, to ensure higher credibility, if needed.
What’s more, GET integrates a carbon footprint calculator, so that the greenhouse gas emissions created by an event can be evaluated. After implementing the tools’ suggestions to reduce the footprint and calculating the remaining emissions, event organizers can go a step further and choose to make the event carbon neutral (by compensating the remaining emissions). A certificate is issued to help organizers communicate this.
Isabel Marras of UNEP added: “Events are a key part of how the UN operates and delivers on its mandates. For this reason, the GET is a vital tool to assist the UN system in meeting its commitments and reporting responsibilities”, confirming the organization’s trust in the new tool.
Through a final report generated by GET, event sustainability can be transparently and reliably communicated. GET is designed to be used throughout a project: it informs the planning stage of an event, the design of activities to improve sustainability, and adds credibility to communication activities linked to the event.