Sustainability Statement
Sustainability is at the forefront of everything we do at Future-Proof Group Media
Conferences and exhibitions are extremely wasteful and polluting businesses. As an events company focusing on sustainable technologies, The Future-Proof Group Media (FPG Media) believes it is only right that we employ sustainable business practices throughout the organisation.
By sharing some of our content digitally we can create less than 1% of the carbon emissions of a live event. A three-day conference with 800 attendees has a carbon footprint of 455 tonnes of CO2 equivalents, corresponding to an average of 0.57 tonnes CO2-eq per participant, or almost as much carbon emissions of a return flight from London to Helsinki, Finland (0.55 CO2-eq).
The main contributors to the large carbon footprint of a live event stem from travel activities, which accounts for a total of 378 tonnes CO2-eq or 0.47 tonnes CO2-eq per attendee. These are followed by participant's hotel overnight stays and catering, as well as waste from promotional materials such as display stands and marketing freebies generated from live events.
This is why we partner with Goodwings. Goodwings is a B Corp certified hotel booking platform that makes it easy and affordable for businesses to track their travel emissions, including flights, transfers, hotels and meals, providing them with real time emissions data for climate reporting. All in one intuitive and easy-to-use platform.
As well as easy tracking simply by booking a hotel, Goodwings uses the commissions from your hotel booking to invest in plant-based jet fuel on your company’s behalf - at no extra cost to you. Using Goodwings unlocks the power of these commissions for climate action and provides you with a substantial return on investment. Many companies struggle with tracking (too many forms, too much time etc) and this makes it as easy as booking a hotel.
From the planning stages to the execution of our virtual events we aim to minimise the environmental impact, any emissions that are produced from the planning to execution of The Future of Protein Production Summits are offset through partner schemes.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
We have teamed up with 1% For The Planet, contributing to tackling our planet's most pressing environmental issues, and another 1% of every ticket sold is contributed to Stripe's CO2 Removal Technology Project. The Future-Proof Group is also a member of Ecologi, the leading emissions measurement platform, helping us to understand, manage and report our carbon emissions, with an end-target to decarbonise emissions from our events by using certified offsetting organisations or certified local and global projects approved by Ecologi's team of experts.
We recognise that waste is inevitable and we are committed to reducing the amount of both physical and carbon waste we are generating by evaluating operations and ensuring they are as efficient as possible. Both our physical and carbon waste is evaluated during any decision-making processes. We have reduced our operational waste by:
We carefully select our buying methods of new office supplies and exhibition waste, by opting for refurbished devices or recycled materials, however sometimes it is inevitable that we receive packaging waste from office supplies, we ensure we responsibly recycle any waste we receive.
When we are required to travel, we evaluate our journey and travel using the most sustainable option, always prioritising fuel-free travel and public transport.
We are as paperless as possible and only using 100% recycled paper when paper is required.
The energy we are using in our offices and during exhibitions from the lighting to the powering of our devices is tracked and analysed via Ecologi. We use low-energy rated equipment and we encourage everyone to switch off their devices at the end of each working day to ensure we are saving energy when not in use.
With the Ecologi Waste Calculator we are able to monitor and analyse the waste we produce and choose to either decarbonise or offset carbon produced by our waste through Ecologi’s certified off-setting organisations or certified local and global projects. Our first annual report will be available in January 2024.
We aim to inspire our clients and suppliers to analyse and reduce their carbon and physical waste, especially when exhibiting at our events. FPG Media encourages the adoption of similar principles by its suppliers by sharing waste-reducing activities, exhibition waste advice and yearly reports via our website
With the help of Ecologi we have set ourselves Action Plans within all areas of our business. We aim to meet or exceed our goals by measuring our businesses activities and reach the highest carbon-reduction potential.
Exhibition waste:
We encourage exhibitors and sponsors to use digital branded backgrounds. For in-person events, we provide our exhibitors and sponsors with detailed information regarding environmentally-friendly, low-waste exhibition displays such as those made with recycled materials. When using displays, we suggest reusable by avoiding the use of dates and exhibition titles, encouraging reuse not single-use.
We encourage ‘no single-use disposable freebie’ at our events. We do not support the giving out of single-use plastic and throw-away freebies, we encourage our exhibitors and sponsors to only give away useful marketing freebies. For any testers and purchases, we encourage the use of compostable or biodegradable materials such as paper cups and bags and wooden cutlery.
We encourage our attendees to ‘bring your own bag’ when attending our in-person events, to avoid the use of single-use carrier bags.
At the end of every event we generate a Newsletter for both Exhibitors and Visitors including the carbon footprint of the event with the help of Ecologi reporting.
Investment
We only invest our companies' finances ethically. We carefully selected our account based on our finance provider’s shared values and ethics. They are transparent in how they invest their customers’ money and do not provide banking services to or invest in organisations that use excessive power to systemically promote public behaviour that is harmful to individuals, groups or to the whole of society in order to maximise their own profits. This may include, for example, arms manufacturers and tobacco companies. Our provider is committed to the pursuit of ecological sustainability and to combating climate change.
Currently we are offsetting greenhouse gas emissions generated by our activities, however we have a target to have nothing to offset.
FPG Media is committed to reducing carbon emissions generated by the business both locally and globally and is currently applying for B Corp certification.