Marking its participation at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, the Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD) announced the launch of Green Events Tool (GET) developed collaboratively by GORD, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat and UN Environment Programme (UNEP), The Peninsula Qatar reports.
Green Events Tool (GET) is an integrated web-based assessment platform conceived and designed to evaluate the environmental performance of events.
Intending to address climate change, the tool targets decarbonization by focusing on environmental impacts and GHG emissions of mega-events, conferences, meetings, exhibitions, trade fairs, etc. GET provides an all-encompassing approach that identifies ways to host eco-friendly events with minimal carbon footprint from transportation and lodging to paper trails, catering, and energy use. GET can help to evaluate and try to reduce the carbon footprint of any event.
Dr. Yousef Alhorr, Founding Chairman of GORD, addressing the audience at the launch of Green Events Tools during #COP26 .#TogetherForOurPlanet pic.twitter.com/RGhDmFb59V
— GORD (@GORDMENA) November 13, 2021
Leading GORD’s delegation at COP26 is the organization’s Founding Chairman, Dr. Yousef Alhorr. Speaking about the importance of the Green Events Tool, Dr. Alhorr said, “In terms of carbon emissions, what’s on an event’s agenda represents only the tip of the iceberg. The upstream and downstream components of an event associated with travel, accommodation, logistics, etc., account for massive amounts of GHG emissions and environmental footprints.”
Sustainability is increasingly being absorbed as a core part of corporate social responsibility. As an entity driving climate actions, GORD embarked on a mission to help organizations reach their GHG reduction targets by greening their events. To this end, Green Events Tool was conceived to quantify the carbon emissions of events, while also providing organizers with ways to improve their events’ environmental performance by embracing sustainability practices, offsetting the unavoidable emissions, and, where applicable, adopting green building standards for venues.”
We’re live from #COP26 at the launch of Green Events Tool developed by GORD in collaboration with @UNFCCC and @UNEP.
Link: https://t.co/1QyZUbaS8P
the-green-events-tool-an-online-platform— GORD (@GORDMENA) November 11, 2021
Incorporating a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, GET has been developed following the specifications by UN Environment Programme and the UNFCCC secretariat. Event activities recorded for GHG calculations by GET include carbon emissions associated with the venue, flight, ground transportation, communication, audio-visual systems, production and exhibition, accommodation, and catering.
Organizations using GET can calculate their overall score and declare it as a testament of their commitment to environmental sustainability. For broader awareness, the report can be submitted to the certification team for third-party verification. Once the verification is complete, GET can generate the certification through the platform and publish it. Depending on the overall achievement of the event, three different ratings (Bronze, Silver, and Gold) can be achieved by organizations through GET. With its launch at COP26 in Glasgow, GET is now available for organizations to help them reduce their event’s carbon footprint.
