United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Acceleration Action

Engaging the Global Event Sector in the UN SDGS, September 2021 - 22
Positive Impact Sustainability Report

 

Positive Impact is a not for profit which exists to educate, engage and collaborate with the majority small to medium enterprises within the global supply chain which enables engagement around the world. 

Readers of this report will gain insight into how engagement* strategies can be used to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and understand how not for profit Positive Impact, an example of a purpose led business, is leading in the transformation of the global event sector and the development of a new narrative which will shape the future of human engagement.

Positive Impact could be described as a critical friend. A critical friend is someone who cares but asks inconvenient questions, challenges the status quo and exists for a bigger purpose than ego and financial returns.

Positive Impact is passionate about the power of human connection and engagement while being honest about the negative impacts and greenwash which the logistics of bringing people together can create.

 

*The term engagement is used to describe meetings, events, exhibitions, festivals, sporting activities. The term engagement is used in the updated 2022 Race to Zero Criteria.

“Engagement amongst communities, customers, supply chains and stakeholders is how we will achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including going beyond net zero carbon targets.”

What got us here, won’t get us there

The impact of human behaviour is being felt on planet Earth and the consequences are moving beyond scientific reports, into our every day lives as we experience flooding, heatwaves, fires and droughts on a scale like never before.

There are some very obvious behaviours that produce these results including creating high levels of carbon emissions traveling by plane, wasting food, procuring internationally grown products with large carbon footprints and creating plastic materials for a one time use. 

These behaviours continue to be part of the DNA of the global event sector that delivers engagement activities such as conferences, concerts and sport competitions.

Is the solution to decrease engagement activities?

Or is it to take a different approach, as Positive Impact’s UN SDG Action #FlipTheScript Campaign suggested:

Throughout 2022 a trend towards virtual and hybrid has been referenced by academics and sustainability professionals as a potential climate change mitigation strategy as this article demonstrates.

This animation imagines what low carbon engagement strategies could look like:

Human engagement is vital for the future of humanity.

Human engagement removes barriers to equality and inspires behaviour change.

This year’s Acceleration Action Report from Positive Impact explores what is happening in the supply chain that enables engagement (with a focus on the over 1600 community of Positive Impact Ambassadors from 57 countries who are part of the event sector supply chain, and use their voices to champion the creation of a sustainable event sector).

The report explores the opportunity of a gap that could be addressed and what a new narrative for human engagement could be.

What is an Acceleration Action Report?

In 2019, the United Nations asked for commitments to action to accelerate progress towards the sustainable development goals.

This was an opportunity to demonstrate the role of events in accelerating action to achieving the SDGs and not for profit Positive Impact continues to take action on this.

Since September 2019 Positive Impact has submitted an annual report.

View the 2019 - 20 report
View the 2020 - 21 report

For over 5 years Positive Impact has been part of the UN SDG Action Campaign, most recently in 2022 with the #flipthescript campaign.

How you could read this Acceleration Action Report

This report has been written by Positive Impact CEO Fiona Pelham, Operations Co-ordinator Sophie Thesieger and contributed to by the community of over 1600 global Positive Impact Ambassadors.

 

If you are a head of sustainability we suggest you read this report and look for these ‘red action boxes’ which you can act on so your corporate engagement strategy aligns with advancing your net zero commitments. This report is written with reference to UN, ISO and best practice sustainability terms.

 

If you are an event professional there is an immediate action you can take to be part of the solution. Become a Positive Impact Ambassador, take action on the resources you receive and use your voice to champion the creation of a sustainable event sector. If you spend the time it would take you to read this report on acting to use your voice there will be impact!

So event professionals: you don’t need to read further. It’s ok to use the time to take action starting with becoming an Ambassador.

Positive Impact: A Purpose Led Business

Read below to understand how not for profit Positive Impact is empowering action which is creating a new future for engagement strategies.

Not for profits are uniquely positioned to empower positive change, as this exploration into Positive Impact demonstrates.

  • Positive Impact is a not for profit which since 2005 has been providing education, engagement and collaboration opportunities to create a sustainable event industry.

  • Since 2016, Positive Impact events has had a number of memorandums of understanding with United Nations bodies including UN Environment, UNDP, UN Global Compact and UN SDG Action Campaign. 

  • Since 2017, Positive Impact has had a memorandum of understanding with UNFCCC and has worked to engage with the event sector on a climate action framework for events. 

  • Since the launch of ISO 20121 in 2012 Positive Impact has implemented ISO 20121 and after a number of years of 3rd party certification now demonstrates evidence of 1st party certification.

    Positive Impact CEO also volunteers her time as chair of ISO 20121.

  • In 2020 Positive Impact became one of 14 UNFCCC Race to Zero Accelerators. This means Positive Impact is responsible for acting to increase the number of event sector small to medium businesses (under 500 employees) who have joined The Race to Zero.

    There are 3 steps to join starting at the Positive Impact website where the first step is to become a Positive Impact Ambassador (so you can access materials to use your voice to champion the creation of a sustainable event sector), the second step is to make your net zero commitment on the Positive Impact website (so the number of event sector businesses being counted can be measured) and the final step is to repeat your commitment on SME Climate Hub who are The Race to Zero Partner responsible for the review of all SME commitments.

  • Since 2013 Positive Impact has had an innovative internship programme to support people at the beginning of their careers to build skills for a sustainable future. Following the programme interns feedback they have learnt valuable life skills (including time management and personal goal setting) and over 50% gain employment in higher roles than those they were interviewing for before their placement.

    In 2023 Positive Impact will launch a new ‘internship’ with a commitment to support interns through recruitment processes with the goal that Positive Impact internships become a stepping stone between completion of education and gaining of meaningful employment (SDG8).

  • In 2020 Positive Impact launched a history page which documents action, since 2005, taken by Positive Impact and key moments in the transformation of the global event sector. The impact of Positive Impact has been described as a small pebble hitting the water and making huge ripples. The Positive Impact community includes global leaders, innovators and advocates for sustainability and for the power of human connection and engagement.

  • As the world’s businesses increasingly focus on ESG reporting Positive Impact’s annual report (this document) meets the reporting requirements of a number of credible initiatives including The Race to Zero, The UN Global Compact and the UN SDG Acceleration Action reporting. This report also provides evidence for our implementation of ISO 20121 to a level of first party certification.

  • Positive Impact is a UN SDG Action Mobilising partner and created tools for the global event sector to join #flipthescript #act4sdgs campaign.

  • In 2022 Positive Impact launched a campaign in collaboration with EventGrads to support the next generation of event professionals to have access to credible resources.

  • In 2022 Positive Impact launched a volunteer non executive director advisory board and a community of Positive Impact geographical representatives.

  • Since 2021 Positive Impact has delivered regular conversation opportunities between corporate Heads of Sustainability, Sustainability leaders including Sir David King and government departments

By directing your supply chain to the free resources available on the Positive Impact website, and encouraging them to use their voices to champion a sustainable event sector by becoming Positive Impact Ambassadors, you will be enabling the transformation of your supply chain in a way that supports and inspires and encourages their creativity.

The usual approach of mandating  measurement and other sustainability requirements in your procurement process may leave less opportunity for your value chain to innovate and identify new solutions to meet your needs.

Positive Impact CEO Fiona Pelham explains:

“Positive Impact is a purpose driven business, we exist to create a sustainable event sector, in other words to ensure Heads of sustainability implement corporate engagement strategies which advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The actions taken by Positive Impact educate a global community of the majority SMEs that are the supply chain for corporate engagement activities, collaborate with over 1600 event professionals across over 57 countries who have committed to use their voices to champion sustainability and engages government, business and UN bodies to deliver support including policy for the creation of a sustainable event sector.

Fiona Pelham, Positive Impact CEO

Our Acceleration Action Report is our annual opportunity to explore our impact and report on it, in a way that meets the requirements of SDG Action, UN Global Compact and The Race to Zero. 

Positive Impact’s values (leadership, responsibility, collaboration, communication, honestly, positivity and proactivity) shape our approach. We support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and take action. For example, since 2019 we have collaborated with UNICEF UK to create guidelines for the consideration of human and child rights when planning an event and in 2022 will empower at least 1000 event professionals to use these resources.

Events bring people together. Human connection and engagement  is the enabler for the advancement of the UN sustainable development goals. There is an opportunity for a new narrative for the role of events. The potential future for the supply chain that enables human engagement is impactful and sustainable and Positive Impact exists to enable this future.”

Read more thoughts and insights from Fiona on her website.

This animation brings to life what engagement strategies advancing the SDGs could look like:

How Positive Impact delivered Acceleration Action

Engaging the Global Event Sector in the UN SDGs between September 2021 - 22

Positive Impact’s Acceleration Action commitment was to:

 

Engage the global event sector so that by 2030 events are enabling inclusion and participation in decision making and accelerating progress towards the UN SDGs. (SDG16)

 

Positive Impact’s objectives to achieve this Acceleration Action were: 

 

Objective 1

Create and mobilize resources so the event sector is in action contributing to the decade of accountability.

 

Objective 2

Engage with business and government at a strategic policy level to position the event sector as a route to achieving the UN SDGs

 

Objective 3

Further the narrative of how building the future of how human connection happens should be in line with the UN SDGs

 

For each objective we have included our 10 favourite examples of action in this report. To find out more information on our actions and impact, we encourage you to browse the website and our history page which is also developing into a virtual museum documenting the transformation of the global event sector.

Objective 1

Create and mobilize resources so the event sector is in action contributing to the decade of accountability.

10 examples of action taken by Positive Impact to deliver impact and advance this objective between September 2021 - September 2022 include:

  • Created a 6 step programme to support event sector SME’s to make a net zero commitment and join The Race to Zero. This approach aligned with SME Climate Hub materials and included resources tailored for the event sector. The 6 Steps the SMEs received education on were: Commit, Measure, Business Strategy, Reduce your own emissions, Reduce your value chains emissions and Contribute to Climate Action.

 

Asking 100% of your event supply chain if they have joined The Race to Zero is a way to support your suppliers with free, credible resources which will enable them to take action in line with your own Race to Zero commitments 

 

  • Delivered 6 presentations live to over 160 SMEs from the global event sector supply chain who had joined The Race to Zero.

  • Enabled more than 160 Small to Medium Enterprises (500 employees or less) from the event sector supply chain to make a net zero carbon commitment and join The Race to Zero. 

  • Created a web page documenting The Road to COP26 for the global event sector and courageously raising questions on inclusion and approach

  • Launched a pledge for event graduates to commit to using their voice to champion a sustainable event sector and connected with 20 global universities to share the pledge with their students.

  • Launched the Share a Positive Impact Campaign and provided materials to support  the global event sector to demonstrate sustainable best practice. This approach enabled peers to learn from each other.

  • Launched the #flipthescript campaign as UN SDG Action Campaign mobiliser and provided materials to support the global event sector to share examples of best practice within a global UN campaign.

  • Provided opportunities for action on International Women’s Day, Earth Day and World Peace Day.

  • Supported communities to share sustainable event resources with their communities including:  Climate Association for Associations, the UNFCCC Race to Zero accelerators, UN Global Compact Network UK and Unicef UK

  • Empowered the Positive Impact Ambassador community with opportunities to take action and use their voice to transform the global event sector. Read examples below.

    • Delivering presentations to their supply chain, clients, peers and communities, on UN and global business level sustainability initiatives, using a powerpoint and speaking notes provided 4 times a year.

    • Contributing feedback on guidance created by Positive Impact and Unicef UK for the consideration of human and child rights and safeguarding when planning an event.

    • Practicing leadership by acting as lead Positive Impact Ambassador for a geographic area with the result that areas including: Oman, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago and across Europe are now represented and give input to shape Positive Impact campaigns.

    • Volunteering to be part of the ISO 20121 systematic review process on committees with national standards around the world.

    • Acting to address gender equality within event content supported by Positive Impact’s International Women’s Day Educational toolkit.

Objective 2

Engage with business and government at a strategic policy level to position the event sector as a route to achieving the UN SDGs

10 examples of action taken by Positive Impact to deliver impact and advance this objective between September 2021 - September 2022 include:

  • Created a way to collaborate with The Race to Zero, SME Climate Hub and UNFCCC to be able to track the number of event sector SME’s making net zero commitments, with the intention of being able to bring  more focus to this community with the knowledge of the community size. In December 2021 event sector SME commitments represented over 2% of The Race to Zero commitments.

 

The number of event sector carbon initiatives and claims grew significantly between 2021-2022. Aligning with credible initiatives is vital which is why Positive Impact took action so their campaign for SMEs in the global event sector to make a net zero commitment and take action was confirmed as an official accelerator programme by the COP26 Champions. 

 

  • Delivered an event to VisitBritain’s community on making a net zero commitment and joining The Race to Zero with the goal of aligning the UK event sector with the wider UK’s government approach to sustainability. 

  • Delivered an event to the Hungarian Event Sector via the British Embassy Hungary to demonstrate the UK leadership in sustainable events evident through the creation of ISO 20121 and to build capacity in the global event sector by sharing free ISO 20121 resources.

  • Facilitated a number of conversations with UK government departments including BEIS, FCDO, DCMS, BVEP, Visit England, Visit Britain in the lead up to COP26 with the intention that the UK event supply chain could be supported to make net zero commitments and this could be a legacy from COP26. Re-established the conversation in the lead up to COP27 to enable unexplored legacy.

  • Collaborated with impactful partners who could reach Heads of Sustainability within business. For example The UN Global Compact Network UK community of 672 businesses have received resources on making a net zero commitment and considering human and child rights and safeguarding when planning an event.

  • Launched the Road to COP27 conversation series to support Heads of Sustainability explore the future of scope 3 emissions reporting and the role of corporate engagement strategies. 

 

Between September 2021 and 2022, Heads of Events faced many challenges including: limited resources, budgets and high workloads as events experienced a post covid boom.

Throughout the year the Positive Impact team heard Heads of Events give the following reasons for inaction: No internal buy in, No resource, No time to learn or take a strategic approach.

This report is written for Heads of Sustainability to prompt the opportunity of collaboration with Heads of Events to create sustainable engagement strategies 

 

  • Proposed the word ‘event’ be added to the updated Race to Zero criteria to clarify that ‘engagement activity’ means events.

  • Proposed a virtual pavilion for COP27 to The Race to Zero Accelerator Team

  • Empowered the Positive Impact community of over 40 global corporates to understand and take action on how their engagement strategies can be advance The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

    • Regular corporate salons aligned with different United Nations bodies exploring a specific sustainability topic. EG a salon delivered with Unicef UK on how considering human and child rights, and safeguarding, can support a corporate engagement strategy to advance sustainability commitments and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

    • Regular events with UN Global Compact Network UK to support their corporate community to create a sustainable event strategy. 

    • Engagement during COP26 with over 20 corporates on what the outcomes of COP26 meant for their event strategy.

    • Supporting 10 global corporates with a measurement opportunity to align with their sustainable event strategy.

    • Delivering a 24hr event on Earth Day designed with corporate sustainability and event teams in mind to explore how to strategically use their event strategy to invest in the planet. 19 global corporate registered for Earth Day including Deloitte, Bloomberg, SAP and AMEX. 

  • Supported the systematic review of ISO 20121

Objective 3

Further the narrative of how building the future of how human connection happens should be in line with the UN SDGs

10 examples of action taken by Positive Impact to deliver impact and advance this objective between September 2021 - September 2022 include:

  • Participated in monthly meetings with Race to Zero Accelerators speaking up for opportunities to support the global engagement sector supply chain and sharing resources with other members of The Race to Zero Accelerator community because events are a cross cutting theme across all accelerator communities.

  • Shared resources with The Joint Meeting Industry Council and The Event Industry Council on the opportunity to be part of The UN SDG Action Campaign #FliptheScript and empower their communities to be part of a global conversation which could influence government policy, business strategy and civil society action.

  • Released a report demonstrating the impact of Positive Impact’s campaign for 2021: Participate. This was shared with the Positive Impact community of over 1600 to show how their support had shaped the global event sector

  • Delivered a series of explorations for over 40 corporate event planners to explore the future of participation and inclusion at events.

  • Delivered a webinar at the UN youth summit to a global community exploring the future of human connection and what this means for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

  • Held an event and created a toolkit to mark International Women’s Day on the topic of the role of gender equality in creating a net zero carbon future.

  • Delivered a webinar in partnership with Cerespo to mark  Earth Day with the Japanese Climate Initiative to support the Japanese event sector.

  • Participated in regular meetings with British Standards Institute on committees for sustainability speaking up for opportunities to support the global engagement sector supply chain.

  • Delivered a 24 hour educational event with a ‘pay what you can afford’ approach to support event professionals around the world be able to access resources inline with UN SDGs

  • Created short animation films on how events can advance each of the Sustainable Development Goals 

The Positive Impact Community 2021-22

Between September 2021 - September 2022 the beneficiaries of the Acceleration Action were:

  • Over 1,600 Positive Impact ambassadors, event professionals from over 57 countries.

  • 40 Global Corporates (supported on how to use their event strategy to advance sustainability commitments and UN SDGs with education and collaboration opportunities)

  • United Nations bodies including: UN Climate Change (UNFCCC), UN SDG Action Campaign, UN Environment (UNEP), UN Global Compact Network UK, and UN Development Programme 

  • 160 small to medium event companies who joined The Race to Zero

  • 160 companies supported with materials, co created with Unicef UK, to be able to consider human and child rights when planning an event

  • 4 UK Government Department communities engaged in how event procurement could advance sustainability goals including the UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Government Cabinet Office and UK Government Department For Culture Media And Sport

  • 20 universities willing to support their students to use their voices to champion the creation of a sustainable event sector through the Positive Impact and EventGrad initiative

  • A social media community reach of over 18,000

  • Industry Associations with whom we acted in a critical friend role including The Joint Meeting Industry Council and The Event Industry Council

  • Strategic media partnerships including Northstar and 3BL Media with a reach beyond 500,000

In comparison, in 2017, the beneficiaries of Positive Impact’s work is represented in this visual:

 
 

As stakeholder engagement becomes an increasingly important step within the delivery of sustainable engagement, it is important to understand who is impacted (both positively and negatively) from your company actions.

What Now: The Future for Engagement Strategies

How will the global event sector transform and be recognised as a essential contributor to achieving the UN SDGs?

This animation gives a glimpse into a potential future for corporate engagement strategies:

 

This short animation will give you an understanding of where you can start strategically implementing a sustainable engagement strategy

 

Why are we using the term engagement rather than saying events?

In June 2022 The Race to Zero criteria was updated to include:

“Within 12 months of joining, align external policy and engagement to the goal of halving emissions by 2030 and reaching global (net) zero by 2050”

The term engagement includes every type of event: meetings, conferences, AGMs, product launches, team training, reward programmes, sponsorship and more. Engagement can be understood as everytime your stakeholders engage with your brand. Your stakeholders could be your customers, supply chain, local communities and more. Using the term ‘engagement’ is in line with The Race to Zero Criteria which CEO’s and Heads of Sustainability have committed to meet.

 

Transformation caused by materiality and procurement

Imagine if the first step in delivering an event was a materiality exercise with stakeholders to understand the potential positive and negative event impacts, in other words how the event could advance the UN SDGs.

Imagine if corporate procurement required stakeholder engagement and measurements. 

Materiality and procurement are two likely influences on the future of corporate engagement strategies. Read the definitions below to understand more about what this approach could look like.

  • The transformation of the global event sector ie the supply chain that delivers human engagement could include a shift from budget and time focus, to materiality focus.

    In other words i.e before deciding the event budget or approach steps would be taken to understand what is material including what the positive and negative event impacts could be. The event would then be designed around those findings.

  • The starting point for a company CEO to assign budget, time and strategic commitment to any event related activity (sponsorship, exhibitions, meetings etc.) could be a collaboration with the Head of Sustainability on what is material for their corporate engagement strategy.

    Learn about the UN Global Compact's reporting framework

  • Carbon reporting of events will become the norm and without the ability to report on how events are enabling the advancement of other sustainable development goals the carbon intensive nature of human engagement will become the factor that shapes how and when events take place.

How Positive Impact plan to deliver Acceleration Action to Engage the Global Event Sector in the UN SDGs between September 2022 - 23

Positive Impact’s Acceleration Action commitment, objectives and themes will remain the same as between September 2021 - 22.

 

Acceleration Action commitment:

Engage the global event sector so that by 2030 events are enabling inclusion and participation in decision making and accelerating progress towards the UN SDGs. (SDG16)

 

Objectives to achieve this Acceleration Action:

  1. Create and mobilise resources so the event sector is in action contributing to the decade of accountability.

  2. Engage with business and government at a strategic policy level to position the event sector as a route to achieving the UN SDGs.

  3. Further the narrative of how building the future of how human connection happens should be in line with the UN SDGs

 

The following impact is possible based on Positive Impact’s objectives: 

  • At least 2000 SMEs making net zero commitments and being educated on how to act on those commitments and at least 500 taking action through submitting their first net zero report.

  • At least 1000 SMEs being supported on the consideration of human and child rights when planning an event and 500 taking action through education on the guidance for considering human and child rights.

  • Between 4000-7000 Ambassadors being supported to advance the narrative of the event sector and human connection in the decade of accountability.

  • A review of ISO 20121 to strengthen carbon and human rights content.

  • At least 20 global corporates engaged on how to use their event strategy to advance their sustainability commitments and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

  • Collaboration opportunities created for the global majority SME event sector supply chain to learn how to understand the impact of their event

In conclusion, a sector that in 2020 and 2021 was significantly impacted by Covid 19 now has an opportunity to create a new narrative around the importance of human connection in achieving the sustainable development goals and the role of the event sector in enabling that.

The beneficiaries of this impact could be:

  • All countries who have made a commitment to engaging with the SGDs. 

  • The global event supply chain which is majority small to medium enterprise (Source: Event Industry Council). 

  • The over 26 million workers within the global event sector who are majority women (Source: Events Industry Council and Leeds Beckett University)

  • The over 1.5 billion participants who attended business events in over 180 countries in 2019 (Source: Event Industry Council).

  • At least 20 of the world's most important corporations who can plan up to 1000 events in a year. 

The themes of the Acceleration Action will be:

  • A new narrative for events

  • Capacity building 

  • Innovation 

  • Leadership

Words from The Positive Impact Ambassador Community

  • We asked our Positive Impact community to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being low and 10 being high):

    “How much has being a Positive Impact Ambassador given you access to resources, for example Race to Zero, ISO 20121 and Unicef UK Guidelines on consideration on human and child rights?”

    Over 40% of respondents rated 9.

  • We asked our Positive Impact community to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being low and 10 being high):

    “How much has being a Positive Impact Ambassador supported you to further the narrative of how human connection happens?”

    Over 50% said 7 or above.

  • We asked our Positive Impact Ambassadors to give us feedback on the resources Positive Impact provides on The Race to Zero, ISO 20121 etc.

    A common piece of feedback was: “It would be great if these resources could translate into some form of competency recognition - Certificate of Achievement/CPD Certified”

    We are happy to announce that we’re working to have our Educate, Advance and 3 of our annual events provide CPD points.

  • We asked our Positive Impact Ambassadors:

    “What do you need to meet your Positive Impact Ambassador commitment of using your voice to champion the creation of a sustainable event sector?”

    A common piece of feedback was “a way to be able to demonstrate I am an Ambassador”.

    We are happy to annouce that all Ambassadors can now access an Ambassaador logo and guidelines at the Ambassador Hub.

  • 10% of the Positive Impact Ambassador community have made a UNFCCC Race to Zero Commitment within the accelerator programme for event sector small to medium enterprises.

  • Of the Positive Impact Ambassadors who took part in our survey, over 80% said they would recommend becoming a Positive Impact Ambassador to their friends.

We asked our Ambassadors what they thought was preventing more commitments and the replies included:

  • Lack of time

  • Confusion on multiple commitments and initiatives

  • Not understanding the importance

  • Not knowing the “how to”

  • Fear of change

  • Need for more group conversation

  • Other business priorities

  • Concern they will not be able to fulfil on the commitment made

We asked our Positive Impact Ambassadors their favourite thing about being an Ambassador and the replies included:

  • “Removing the narrative that Event Managers are ruining the environment”

  • “Feeling responsible to spread the word helped me open my eyes for several details. Made more conscientious.”

  • “The opportunity to be part of an International community”

  • “The ‘out of the box’ thinking regarding national legislation”

  • “The emails and resources”

  • “The journey of discovering a more meaningful future to Event Management”

Information on how this report meets United Nations Global Compact Communication on Engagement reporting requirements and UNFCCC Race to Zero Reporting Requirements

  • This year Positive Impact’s Acceleration Action Report is also being used as a  Communication on Engagement for the UN Global Compact. 

    This section is a guide to where information needed for the UN Global Compact Communication on Engagement can be found:

    Statement from the CEO

    See “Positive Impact CEO Fiona Pelham explains” within Positive Impact: a Purpose Led Organisation

    Information on our policies and procedures which demonstrate the action Positive Impact has taken and plans to take in the Global compact areas

    See Positive Impact: a Purpose Led Organisation.

    Positive Impact implements inline with ISO 20121.

    Our policies can be found at the bottom of this page.

    Human rights

    See Action taken for our Objectives for Positive Impact work with UNICEF UK 

    Environment

    See Action taken for our Objectives for the actions Positive Impact has taken to engage with SMEs in the event sector to make a net zero commitment through their accelerator programme. 

    Labour

    See Positive Impact: a Purpose Led Organisation for information on Positive Impact interns and training programmes. 

    Anti-corruption

    See Positive Impact: a Purpose Led Organisation for policies and procedures in place, such as no supply chain, which prevents corruption. 

    See Action taken for our Objectives which measures the outcomes of all Positive Impact’s activities throughout the year. 

  • This year Positive Impact’s Acceleration Action Report is also being used as a Race to Zero Transition Plan.

    This page includes Positive Impact’s detailed response to Race to Zero reporting requirements

    Positive Impact has pledged to halve emissions by 2030 and to be net zero by 2050.

    Positive Impact’s current carbon footprint is: 14 CO2 Tonnes 

    Actions taken in the last 12 months:

    Positive Impact made our net zero carbon commitment via the SME climate hub 

    See Action taken for our Objectives to view the leadership Positive Impact has taken to support the global event sector to make a net zero commitment and advance their just transition. 

    See a detailed response to Race to Zero reporting requirements.

    Proposed activities departing from business as usual over the next 12 months (Our Actions):

    Positive Impact will be gathering a community of event professionals virtually for all educational events over the next 12 months to prevent the travel and venue carbon footprint.

    Positive Impact will be supporting our community of global event professionals through educational resources on identifying the optimal way to enable human engagement and avoid circumstances where an in person event with carbon impact may take place because ‘that is the way it has always been done’.

    Positive Impact will be engaging the global event professionals on how to use extensive stakeholder engagement prior to the event using Unicef UK human and child rights guidelines. This means the intention and medium of the event can be explored and unnecessary carbon impact from events avoided.

    Positive Impact CEO intends make decisions on which events to speak at, and take part in, based on the carbon impact.

    Governance arrangement around these activities: 

    Strategic lead is Positive Impact CEO Fiona Pelham and Actions and Measurement lead is Positive Impact Operations Coordinator, Sophie Thesiger.

    Positive Impact's next plan will be released in September 2024 following an impact review for Positive Impact annual Acceleration Action Report. 

Actions you could take today instead of reading this report

If you would  like to support the creation of a sustainable event sector and build the future of how human engagement happens here are 3 actions you could take today:

If you would like to provide feedback or suggestions to the Positive Impact team please email info@positive-impact-events.com