The team at Broadsword have announced they have achieved their goal of carbon neutrality ahead of schedule. The events agency credited two organisations that have been instrumental in its drive towards carbon neutrality – isla and C Free.
Broadsword joined isla – the independent sustainability organisation for the events industry – in 2021, benefitting from the knowledge sharing, resources, training workshops and suggested approach to policies and KPIs.
Environmental consultancy, C Free has also worked with Broadsword to accurately measure the carbon footprint of their businesses and services. C Free has built a set of tools and algorithms to read through large data sets to understand the carbon emissions related to the operations of a business.
Broadsword MD, Anna Green said: “Climate change is now firmly on the event industry’s agenda and although reduction in waste and emissions is challenging for our sector, there is momentum, drive and commitment to consistently deliver sustainable events and reduce our impact.
“We kicked off 2022 ‘determined to do the right thing’ with renewed confidence and ambition to achieve carbon neutrality and implement a carbon reduction strategy by the end of the year. We’re delighted that we’re ahead of schedule!”
The agency calculated its carbon footprint for the previous year, with scope 1, 2 and 3 total gross emissions measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) as per the recommendation of international standards.
This was followed by carbon offsetting which involves the purchase and retirement of verified emission reductions (carbon credits or offsets). Each credit refers to the removal or avoidance of 1 metric tonne of CO2e. Broadsword made sure to support Gold Standard VERs as they’re the highest quality voluntary offsets on the market, investing in the Sidrap Wind Energy Farm Project, located in Indonesia – a truly fantastic initiative doing great things for the local community.
Green added: “It was hugely motivating to know where our verified carbon credits were going, but of course this is only the start. We are now implementing isla’s TRACE tool, to calculate the emissions of our event delivery more accurately, relying less on the spend based method as we move forwards. Education remains a key aspect of our sustainability strategy, as the team benefit from content and sessions delivered by isla, as well as EVCOM, micebook and C&IT.”
Anna Green is attending micebook Ventures22 in the Knowledge Quarter Liverpool on 31 October-2 November on behalf of Broadsword. Ventures22 will focus on solutions for transforming the world of business events as a ‘Force For Good’ – in the debating chamber, in the meeting room and through live experiences. If, like Anna, you share our values and vision for building back better and creating a more sustainable industry, you can find out more information or register for Ventures here