MICEBOOK - POWER30 BROCHURE 10 (1) - Flipbook - Page 10
Accreditations
The growth of and adoption of third-party accreditations, from ISO to Ecovadis, B Corp and
others strongly suggests that clients and agencies alike are looking for public validation of
efforts in event sustainability.
“It was 12 years ago that ISO20121:2012 was developed
for the delivery of the London Olympics. That was
the first accreditation that many event professionals
encountered. A proliferation of standards points strongly
towards buyer demand for sustainable supply-chain and
to suppliers wanting to deliver more sustainable services,”
says Grey.
The data revealed that 22% of the top 30 agencies
are B Corp certified, with one agency having held the
accreditation for the last three years, and 50% hold an
EcoVadis certification, of which 17% are platinum, 8%
gold, 50% silver, and 25% bronze. Interestingly the two
agencies that hold Platinum, the highest accolade (top
1% globally) are the two largest companies, Amex Global
Business Travel M&E and BCD M&E. ISO standards are also
popular, and twice as many agencies hold ISO14001 for
Environmental Management as ISO 20121 for Sustainable
Event Management.
Undertaking an accreditation process can help formalise
internal process and if achieved, prove a sustainable
delivery process externally to clients. Eloisa Urrutia, Global
Head of M&E Sustainability Strategy at Amex GBT, believes
that accreditation is now a must have.
“While no certification system is perfect, I firmly
believe they are the most effective way to establish
clear, standardised sustainability criteria. We’re
seeing a growing number of corporations integrating
sustainability goals into their meeting programs, driven
by macroeconomic frameworks like the Science Based
Targets initiative (SBTi), where nearly 9,000 companies—
representing about 40% of the global economy by market
capitalisation—have committed to cutting emissions.
These commitments extend across all areas of business,
including travel and meetings,” she explains.
“For industries like professional services and 昀椀nance,
where travel and meetings represent a signi昀椀cant
portion of their carbon footprint, sustainability goals are
particularly ambitious. However, even manufacturing
and pharmaceutical companies are now requiring
sustainability certi昀椀cations as part of RFPs and RFIs.
Certi昀椀cation is no longer just an option—it’s becoming
an industry standard and a key factor in forming
partnerships with major corporations.”
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That said, a lack of relevant
accreditation does not mean
an agency cannot and does not
deliver sustainably and responsibly.
Agencies with few third-party
accreditations have also managed
to achieve recognition within
the Most Sustainable Agency
programme by engaging with local
enterprises, social or charitable and
by designing events that include
high proportions of sustainable and
responsible practices.
“The Most Sustainable Agency
programme welcomes and rewards
third-party accreditations, but we’re
delighted also to be able to include
within the recognised group a
number of agencies who have not,
so far, formalised their accreditations
but continue to deliver events of the
highest sustainable standard,” says
Grey.
