Association event organisers and planners are increasingly sensitive to the need to reduce conference footprints. But the challenge is doing so while still being able to offer world class facilities and services to their members and delegates in attractive destinations.
Sustainability is at the core of ICC Sydney’s mission, to improve its own performance, certainly, but also to help event organisers and planners ensure that they can reach their sustainability goals.
In alignment with the ASM Global ACTS worldwide sustainability and equity programme (ICC Sydney is part of ASM Global’s venue portfolio), ICC Sydney’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme is focused on creating a meaningful and lasting legacy for its clients, team, and community in an unrivalled location.
There are three key pillars integral to this programme:
- Protect the Environment
- Invest in People
- Strengthen our Communities
A signatory of the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) Sustainable Events 2030 Pledge to achieve environmentally sustainable events by 2030, ICC Sydney has also signed the Joint Meetings Industry Council’s Net Zero Carbon Events initiative.
ICC Sydney recently appointed Jess Zickar to the role of (CSR) Manager with a mandate to support the venue’s operations, its team and clientele in continuing to achieve best practice outcomes for the world class events it delivers.
ICC Sydney has identified several initiatives to support clients in reducing their environmental footprint while maximising positive social contributions. Its ground-breaking Legacy Program connects clients with a cross-section of vibrant communities, allowing planners and their events to deliver on social and environmental sustainability goals.
Through ICC Sydney’s connections, event organisers can choose to engage with a wide network of stakeholders. Building on previous successes, the venue’s Legacy Program has broadened its partnerships and experiences, including additional First Nations cultural service suppliers and environmental sustainability partners. This gives event organisers even more avenues to reach their CSR objectives through their events. Additionally, ICC Sydney can also provide post-event reports that allow organisers to reflect on the success of initiatives and communicate back to delegates and stakeholders.
One of the important environmental issues that came to the forefront of the recent COP 27 climate talks was food. Simultaneously, we reached a new milestone with the human population passing the 8 billion mark for the first time ever.
The combination of more mouths to feed and temperatures and rainfall fluctuating in unprecedented and extreme ways has placed an agricultural sector, already facing uncertainty, under increasing pressure.
In this context, immediate and effective actions we can take are to cut back on food waste and provide environmentally sustainable food options. ICC Sydney is working on these important issues through its 2023 Menu Collection that has undergone a carbon calculation analysis to identify low carbon food options across six core menus as well as putting in place purchasing arrangements that prioritise locally sourced ingredients and menu planning that includes indigenous ingredients and diverse suppliers.
To further reduce its overall waste impact, ICC Sydney has partnered with waste management experts BinTracker, which offers innovative ways to help monitor waste, providing clients with detailed and accurate data regarding their event’s waste footprint, while helping meet landfill diversion targets.
We only have one planet. Through its sustainability programme ICC Sydney is committed to achieving as much as it can to help ensure a liveable future for the next generations. ICC Sydney will continue to do everything possible to support association event planners, by helping them to explore ways to reduce their event’s impact and meet sustainability goals.