Program on the Environment

Up to 95% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of an in-person event or convention comes from participant travel. As the industry rebounds from Covid-19, it is important to consider creative ways of reducing emissions in this category to improve event sustainability and retain the benefits of in-person conferencing. The aim of this study was to investigate reduction opportunities for emissions from travel and propose sustainability strategies for event organizers. This was investigated through a case study on historical convention data with counterfactual scenarios, in addition to extensive academic research and hands-on experience in the industry working on carbon calculations at AQ Green TeC. Working with a large array of travel-related emissions data helped me learn carbon calculation methodology, as well as a sense for industry norms and opportunities for improvement. Through this study, I found that venue centrality in relation to participants’ origin locations and opportunity for land travel over aviation were key to a carbon efficient event. Additionally, the opportunity for enhanced remote participation can allow for a large reduction in emissions from long- distance attendees, and improve the accessibility of the event. Reducing emissions from participant travel is key to carbon efficient events as it remains the largest category of emissions for most in- person events. Therefore, good travel data collection is imperative, and significant carbon reductions here contribute heavily to the sustainability of the event and convention industry as a whole.