The ESG acronym has moved well beyond buzzword status in our industry.
I believe it is important — as much as possible — to keep the words of environment, social and governance present as we discuss this framework, as otherwise it is too easy for the concept to become an abstraction that loses its meaning or connection to the principles that ultimately build trust.
It surfaces in the everyday choices planners, venues and suppliers wrestle with: recommending a destination, locking in a hotel contract, selecting food options, or ensuring a programme that truly welcomes everyone in the room. I believe that no matter where events are hosted, we all often balance our event ambitions with ESG sustainability goals, that tension feels immediate, the upside of convening people alongside the real footprint of travel and gatherings.
Global clients bring their own expectations that include environmental, social and governance questions into RFPs, whether shaped by EU disclosure mandates or more voluntary market forces elsewhere.
An event portfolio spanning multiple regions means juggling climate rules, labour standards, accessibility needs and reporting formats, all while delivering a consistent story for stakeholders back home. Often RFPs reflect this: they no longer just ask if you can host, but what the event delivers for people, planet and community, and how you will prove it.
The Events Industry Council’s (EIC) Futures Landscape Study 2025 captures this moment well. It flags the environmental, social and governance framework as one of twelve forces reshaping business events, with nearly 60% of respondents rating it very or extremely important to the industry’s trajectory. The report highlights strong agreement on ESG’s relevance, but gaps in execution, particularly around consistent measurement, regional adaptation and clear communication. It envisions events evolving into platforms that not only share content, but actively demonstrate environmental, social and governance initiatives in action through attendee engagement and tangible impact.
EIC steps into that gap with tools that ground the conversation. The current version of the Sustainable Event Standards released in 2022 provides a framework any part of the event supply ecosystem, from organizers to venues, can apply across the event lifecycle: strategy, procurement, delivery, reporting. They work whether the host destination is in Berlin, Vancouver or Singapore, bridging diverse regulatory landscapes with practical criteria.
The Futures Landscape underscores that standards alone are not enough; it calls for skills to match. Progress hinges on integrated approaches, backed by teams who can turn frameworks into decisions on suppliers, formats and legacies. EIC’s Sustainable Event Professional Certificate delivers on that, equipping planners and suppliers with steps to operationalize ESG without reinventing the wheel.
The 2026 review of EIC’s Sustainable Event Standards arrives at the right time. With climate disclosure rules tightening and client demands expanding to include equity, accessibility and local impact, as well as changing economic pressures, an update can refine the Sustainable Events Standard playbook. It will not erase every inconsistency across markets, but it should offer a shared guide for planners, sales teams, venues and suppliers, one that evolves with the landscape that creates bridges to building that business case while keeping events viable and valued by all that are connected through events.
Gwendal Castellan manages Tourism Vancouver’s sustainable destination development program. At Destination Vancouver he uses the wholistic approach to building a tourism industry that is centred in the purpose of transforming communities and visitors through the power of travel. Gwendal is also the 2026 Chair of the EIC Sustainability and Social Impact Committee.
