What’s Holding Up Sustainability Efforts in Global Events?

Brian Peterson-Roest, founder of Bees in the D, the group that installed beehives on the green roof of Huntington Place in Detroit, leads part of a sustainability tour for attendees of PCMA’s edUcon 2024 at the venue. Sustainability-focused activities and tours are one way events can “go green,” according to a recent survey. (Whatever Media Group)

Global DMC Partners (GDP), a global network of independent destination management companies (DMCs) and specialized event service providers, has published the results of its Q3 Meetings & Events Survey. Conducted from late June to early August, the survey garnered 164 responses from meeting and event professionals, the majority of whom are based in the U.S. and Canada, with 20 percent located in the U.K. and Europe. Thirty-seven percent were corporate/direct planners, two out of five were agency/third-party planners, and 23 percent were association and independent meeting planners.

The survey questionnaire covered a wide range of topic areas: budgets, cost management strategies, lead times, diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, adoption of AI tools, and sustainability practices. Let’s look at the responses to the sustainability questions for the purposes of this story — and stay tuned for another story on insights from the other topic areas.

• Frequency of sustainability initiatives — Only 14 percent or respondents say that they incorporate sustainability elements all the time or in every program; one-quarter say they do so in most of their programs; 17 percent in half — and 18 percent in less than half — their programs; and nearly one-quarter rarely do.
• North American vs. international planners — Less than half (47 percent) of U.S./Canadian planners incorporate sustainability elements all the time or most of the time in their events vs. more than three-quarters (76 percent) of international planners. According to GDP, this reflects a wider gap between the two from the last survey (Q2), where 43 percent of North American and 57 percent of international planners reported the same, “suggesting a growing emphasis on sustainability” among international planners.

• It comes down to costs — Nearly four out of five planners find it challenging to incorporate sustainability initiatives into their events because of costs. According to the responses, more than half (52 percent) sometimes face financial difficulties; nearly one-quarter (23 percent) most of the time; while only 3 percent said they always struggle with sustainability-related costs. One third-party event organizer respondent said this about prioritizing sustainability efforts: “It depends on clients’ wishes and budget. We as a company try to encourage it. However, mostly it [comes down] to budget.” Another respondent, clearly in the minority, said it is “non-negotiable — sustainability is not ‘optional’ within our agency proposals.”
• Ways to go green — Among the most popular steps and tactics respondents said they take most of the time to make their events more environmentally responsible: 47 percent said they select program components within walking distance; 35 percent select locally sourced food options; 47 percent focus on reducing plastic usage/waste; 37 percent find ways to reuse or recycle event materials and goods; and 27 percent include sustainable/CSR-focused activities/tours/experiences in their events.

In other industry surveys, we’ve seen that event organizers tend to rely on suppliers to make their events more sustainable, but in this survey, only one-quarter said that most of the time they will only work with vendors that have sustainability efforts in place (but are not certified) and only 11 percent said they will work exclusively with certified sustainable vendors.

Also related to relying on vendors: Only 18 percent choose menus with plant-based options all of the time and around the same do so most of the time. Which seems surprising, considering it should be, pardon the pun, something of a low-hanging fruit.

Find the full results of GDP’s Meetings & Events Pulse Survey.

Michelle Russell is editor in chief of Convene.