Why ‘Sustainable Events’ Matter in the MICE Industry
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There's a keyword that never fails to come up in the event-planning industry these days: ‘Sustainable Events.’ Far from a passing trend, it has become a core agenda shaping the direction of the entire MICE industry. Today, let's look at what sustainable events are, why they matter, and how they're actually being applied!
🌿 What are Sustainable Events?
Sustainable events are events planned and run in ways that minimize environmental impact, fulfill social responsibility, and improve economic efficiency.
In 2012, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published the ‘ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management System’ standard, setting criteria for systematically managing sustainability across the entire event process.
💡 The three pillars of a sustainable event: Environmental · Social · Economic
📊 Why do sustainable events matter in the MICE industry now?
1. The MICE industry's carbon footprint is bigger than you'd think
According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the global events industry accounts for a significant share of worldwide greenhouse-gas emissions. Participant travel (air/ground transport), accommodation, food waste, and printed materials are the main emission factors.
For example, the carbon footprint of a single large international meeting can reach thousands of tons of CO₂—on par with the annual electricity use of hundreds of households.
2. It aligns with the global ESG management trend
With the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to halve carbon emissions by 2030 and successive carbon-neutrality declarations by governments, pressure to apply ESG criteria to corporate events is rising.
Global companies now treat ‘how eco-friendly the event is run’ as a key evaluation criterion when commissioning events. The very ability to run sustainable events has become a competitive edge.
3. Real cases: moments where sustainable events shone
The World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos Forum has formalized a carbon-neutral goal since 2020 and applies sustainability principles across its operations.
The 2024 Paris Olympics organizing committee, aiming for the ‘most sustainable Olympics ever,’ set core goals of 95% reuse of existing facilities, an expanded plant-based menu, and halving carbon emissions.
In Korea, too, the 20th IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) World Congress held in Busan in 2023 actively reflected sustainable-event standards, including eco-friendly venue operation and carbon-offset programs.
✅ How are sustainable events actually applied?
Below is a table of sustainable-event practices you can apply right now on the MICE ground.
Area
Conventional approach
Sustainable approach
Printed materials
Distributing paper program books
QR-code-based digital materials
Name tags & goods
Plastic name tags, disposable goods
Recycled materials, seed-paper name tags, etc.
Catering
Packaged food, lots of food waste
Local ingredients, expanded plant-based menu share
Transport
Participants' individual vehicles
Shuttle-bus and public-transit guidance
Venue
Mostly newly built booths and structures
Reusing existing facilities, actively using rental props
Energy
Conventional grid power
Purchasing and applying Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)
🌱 Chris & Partners and sustainable events
As a company specialized in digital events and marketing, Chris & Partners has long-standing know-how in hybrid and online event operation—one of the cores of sustainable events.
Simply offering an online participation option can greatly reduce the carbon emissions from participants' air and ground travel. It's also one of the most practical ways to realize sustainable events.
Various events Chris & Partners has run—Metacon 2021, the 1st Seoul Peace Think-Tank International Conference (SPIC 2021), and more—were held in hybrid format, cutting the physical carbon footprint while achieving both high participation and event satisfaction.
✨ Sustainable events aren't only about ‘eco-friendliness.’ Inclusive events that more people can join, events that contribute to the local community, events run efficiently without waste—all of these are sustainable events.
🎯 In closing
Sustainable Events are becoming an era of necessity, not choice.
More than just an ‘event for the environment,’ they're becoming the baseline standard for events in the ESG era. That's why everyone in the MICE industry should pay attention to this shift.
Chris & Partners will keep creating sustainable, meaningful, and memorable events. Join us in helping your event leave a positive mark on the world! 🙌
📎 Sources • ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management System: https://www.iso.org/iso-20121-sustainable-events.html• UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) official website: https://sdgs.un.org/goals• UNEP – Sustainable Events Guidelines: https://www.unep.org/resources/report/sustainable-events-guide• World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos Forum official website: https://www.weforum.org• Paris 2024 Olympics sustainability report: https://www.paris2024.org/en/sustainability/• Chris & Partners official website: https://chrisandpartners.co