AIM Group International Signs Pledge for “Net Zero Carbon Events”
The pledge commits organisations to achieve “net zero” by 2050, at the latest, and halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030
AIM Group International, a company specialised in conferences, events and communication with more than 60 years of experience, is proud to announce that it has signed the “Net Zero Carbon Events” pledge, a joint commitment across the events and meetings industry to achieve the targets laid out in the Paris Climate Accord.
“We are convinced that achieving a sustainable long-term and prosperous future for the events industry depends upon finding new ways to meet, learn and engage that support the continuing health of our planet” explains Annalisa Ponchia, Innovation Director of AIM Group International. “As a market leader for more than 60 years, AIM Group is committed to providing cutting-edge formats, technologies and solutions and is proud to be a signatory to the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative, which we see as a key driver for change in our business. We believe that such change can only be achieved collectively, by combining our efforts, and are committed to joining our industry peers on this challenging but crucial journey.”
The “Net Zero Carbon Events” pledge is the result of global collaboration throughout the events industry. Over recent months, facilitated by the “Joint Meetings Industry Council” (JMIC), more than one hundred stakeholders from across the sector drafted and finalised this commitment with the support of UNFCCC Secretariat (United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change). The pledge was presented at the Global Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 10. At the time of launch, there were more than 100 signatories, making this the most global and inclusive collaborative action tackling the challenges of climate change within the events sector.
By signing the pledge, AIM Group is committing to publish our pathway to achieve net zero by 2050 at the latest, with an interim target in line with the Paris Agreement’s requirement to reduce global GHG emissions by 50% by 2030. This work has to be concluded by the end of 2023.
“AIM Group will involve all partners and suppliers and collaborate with clients to drive change across the entire value chain. To track the progress towards the targets, AIM Group will measure and track its emissions of Greenhouse Gases according to industry best practice and report on its progress at least every two years” explains Annalisa. The next step of the “Net Zero Carbon Events” initiative is to develop the roadmap which will support the objectives outlined in the pledge.
For AIM Group International and its Prague branch, joining this initiative is just one of the activities aimed at the sustainable development of the meetings industry. The group has been dealing with the issue for a long time and individual branches, including the Prague one, are of course joining in. "Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, we were one of the first to promote so-called paperless events – events with significantly reduced or zero paper consumption. We have also joined, for example, the IAPCO Plastic Pledge. We do calculate the meetings’ carbon footprint, but we also try to neutralize it completely. For example, the WEEC Prague congress in March will dedicate raised funds to support the construction of solar panels in Czech environmental education centres. Last year, we started to cooperate with the TREEDOM initiative, where we strive to neutralize the carbon footprint by planting and preserving trees in the tropical zone and support local farmers at the same time," explains Dana Prejzková, Operations Manager of AIM's Prague branch. In addition to the above, AIM Prague is also negotiating with the Czech University of Life Sciences about joining the TREEDOM within the 6th European Congress of Conservation Biology, which will be held in Prague at the end of August 2022. "For all the external and internal events, we try to minimize waste, recycle and optimize F&B. Preference for public transport is a matter of course. Last but not least, in autumn 2021, we obtained the ISO 14001 – Environmental Management certificate for the Prague branch," concludes Prejzková.
