New guidance published today by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) enables event organizers to report on sustainability issues like impacts on communities, natural environments, and local and global economies.

The diverse events sector has activities ranging from business meetings, conferences, and exhibitions to sports and cultural festivals -- all of which have impacts on the economy, environment and society. "

Major EHS conventions held annually include: American Society of Safety Engineers 2012 Professional Development Conference, the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo, the Voluntary Protection Program Participants' Association Conference and the National Safety Council Congress and Expo.

"These impacts need to be considered, measured and shared in order to improve the sustainability performance of the events industry," according to the GRI.

The Event Organizers Sector Supplement (EOSS) will enable event organizers to report their sustainability performance in a comparable way. The sustainability reporting guidance, tailored for the events sector, aims to make reporting more relevant for event organizers by defining how to provide qualitative and quantitative information on sustainability issues. In addition to more widely applicable issues such as greenhouse gas emissions and waste, the guidance helps event organizers report on more specific issues including attendee travel, legacy of the event, and initiatives taken at the event to promote sustainability and transparency.

Maaike Fleur, GRI Senior Manager Reporting Framework: “Over the last ten years there has been a growing interest in the ‘greening’ of events, with more and more organizations considering the sustainability performance of their activities. Public sustainability reporting is still quite a new concept for event organizers, but we anticipate that this new guidance will help them be more transparent about the impacts of their activities.

“Reporting is also about sharing best practices and can enhance learning for event organizers not yet so familiar with sustainability strategy and reporting. Attendees are interested to know the sustainability strategies behind events. Events are a significant business investment so it is vital that we start measuring and reporting sustainability impacts if we are to move to a sustainable global economy,” added Fleur.

The Event Organizers Sector Supplement provides reporting guidance that is suitable for all types and sizes of events. The guidance covers the complete project life cycle of an event, from bid to planning, execution and, finally, post-event – including the issue of event legacy. The Supplement can be used to report before or after an event has taken place.

About the Global Reporting Initiative

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) produces a comprehensive Sustainability Reporting Framework that is widely used around the world, to enable greater organizational transparency. The Framework, including the Reporting Guidelines, sets out the Principles and Indicators organizations can use to report their economic, environmental, and social performance. GRI is committed to continuously improving and increasing the use of the Guidelines, which are freely available to the public.

Website: www.globalreporting.org.