A Committed Effort How a conference introduced a sustainability pledge for exhibitors and attendees by Connie Jeske Crane Sustainability has become a constant watchword in the events sector. Yet as destinations, venues and associations alike embrace ambitious goals, something that’s easy to overlook amidst all the talk of targets and emissions is the power of an honest, real-life, roll-up-your-sleeves example. To that end, we recently talked with Melissa Sternberg, global head of environmental, social and governance at Swift, about the company’s annual global financial services event, Sibos. Held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, September 18 to 21, Sibos 2023 rolled out a creative new sustainability initiative called the Sibos Sustainability Pledge. So how did things go? We asked Sternberg about the ‘what’ and ‘why’ behind the pledge, lessons learned and advice for event professionals. Here are key takeaways: BUILD ON PREVIOUS SUCCESSES As Sternberg explains, the 2023 pledge initiative is an expression of long-held company values around sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion—and an expansion of a previous campaign. “In 2022, we launched the #LeadTheChange campaign at Sibos Amsterdam.” Because those initiatives proved to be “quite a hit,” organizers were encouraged to press on. CREATE ACTIONABLE COMPONENTS In 2023, the Sibos pledge, in a nutshell, asked exhibitors and participants “to sign up for at least five specific actions they would commit to take,” says Sternberg. It was two-pronged: • Exhibitors could adopt steps such as using sustainable materials to build stands, hiring local staff and ensuring diverse hiring practices. • Attendees could opt to eat a plant-based lunch for one day or more, use public transportation (with free transit passes provided), bring reusable water bottles, visit the charity stand in the event’s sustainability village and more. COMMUNICATE THROUGHOUT With a new initiative, Sternberg says the communications effort has to be substantial. As such, the Sibos initiative included: • Upfront communications on the event website— “Letting people know these are the actions Swift is taking to produce as sustainable an event as possible. But on top of that, we’ll be providing a sustainability pledge.” • A pledge logo signifying participation—On the event app, pledge participants had an identifying logo on their profile “signifying that you had signed up for the pledge.” • On-premises educational signage—In the food hall, Sternberg says, “we actually had the emissions that were produced by meat and veggie options printed on the menu, so people could see the impact they were having.” Earth First S U S TA I N A B L E E V E N T S O L U T I O N S → Spring 2024 | Ignitemag.ca | 13
