Why measure Environmental Impact?

The organisation, delivery and legacy phases of sport and cultural events all involve environmental impacts. Some of these are explicit, for example, land use for stadia or emissions created by visitor travel to and from events. Others are more hidden, for example, the carbon emissions generated in the production of merchandise. It is more important than ever that event managers appreciate the diverse impacts that events can have on the environment, and consider how to stage more sustainable events. Issues of sustainable development are also increasingly important to potential event sponsors, participants and visitors. Careful consideration of environmental impacts is also a pillar of corporate social responsibility and represents sound strategic management. Understanding the drivers of environmental impacts can also help organisations to be more cost effective. Furthermore, effective communication of environmental credentials can affect the level and quality of sponsorship/funding.

ISO 20121, the International Standard on Sustainable Event Management was developed to help the event industry put sustainability first when planning and staging events. Based on the British Standard BS 8901 (Specification for a sustainability management system for events), ISO 20121 enables event organisers and businesses to identify the potential impacts of an event, how to reduce any negative impacts on the environment, communities and local economy, and leave a positive legacy.

eventIMPACTS explains the key questions that event managers need to ask in the context of environmental impacts. It points to the factors driving environmental impacts, describes useful environmental impact indicators, and provides research tools that can be used to collect data and measure impacts.

This section of eventIMPACTS provides answers to a series of key questions regarding the environmental impacts of events:

• Why consider the environmental impacts of events?
• When should environmental impacts be considered?
• What sort of environmental impacts should be considered?
• What are the practical factors that should be considered when building in measures of environmental impacts?
• What sort of approaches are there to measuring the environmental impacts of events?
• What is an environmental impact checklist for event managers?

Download - Environmental Impacts FAQ's and checklist