The pledge commits organisations to achieve net zero by 2050, at the latest, and halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030

London, 10 November 2021. RX (Reed Exhibitions) is proud to announce that it has signed the ‘Net Zero Carbon Events’ pledge, a joint commitment across the events and meetings industry to achieve the targets laid out in the Paris Climate Accord.

Making the announcement, Hugh Jones, RX’s global CEO said: “Sustainable development is a critical and longstanding focus of the events industry. Principles of sustainability are firmly embedded within industry practices and client expectations has long been a rallying cry for our industry: for example, attending a trade show allows companies to consolidate their air travel thereby improving efficiency and reducing emissions.”

He continued, “With over 400 events, in 22 countries across 43 industry sectors, RX has an important and leading role to play in educating and inspiring our customers, communities and partners to build back better after COVID-19, and create a more equitable and sustainable world. In fact, our events have a long history of demonstrating leadership in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. You can read more about what we’re already doing here.”

The ‘Net Zero Carbon Events’ pledge is the result of global collaboration throughout the events industry. Over recent months, facilitated by the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), more than one hundred stakeholders from across the sector drafted and finalised this commitment with the support of UNFCCC Secretariat (United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change). The pledge was presented at the Global Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 10. At the time of launch, there were more than 100 signatories, making this the most global and inclusive collaborative action tackling the challenges of climate change within the events sector.

RX is pleased to be a founding member of this initiative, as it will be through continued collaborative work throughout the events sector that we will be able to make swift and essential progress towards reducing the overall carbon footprint of events.

The commitments of the pledge are aligned with the targets of the Paris Climate Accord.

By signing the pledge, RX is committing to publish our pathway to achieve net zero by 2050 at the latest, with an interim target in line with the Paris Agreement’s requirement to reduce global GHG emissions by 50% by 2030. This work has to be concluded by the end of 2023. RX also will collaborate with partners, suppliers and customers to drive change across the value chain. To track the progress towards the targets, RX will measure and track its emissions of Greenhouse Gases according to industry best practice. Finally, RX will report on its progress at least every two years.

The Net Zero Carbon Events initiative brings together a wide range of event industry stakeholders to:

–  Jointly communicate the industry’s commitment to tackling climate change and driving towards net zero by 2050

–  Develop common methodologies for measuring the industry’s direct, indirect and supply chain greenhouse gas emissions

–  Construct an industry-wide Roadmap towards net zero by 2050, and emissions reductions by 2030 in line with the Paris Agreement and climate science, with support and guidance on key issues

–  Foster collaboration with suppliers and customers to ensure alignment and common approaches

–  Establish common mechanisms for reporting progress and sharing best practice.

The next step of the “Net Zero Carbon Events” initiative is to develop the roadmap which will support the objectives outlined in the pledge.

More information about the initiative at www.netzerocarbonevents.org

ENDS

About RX (Reed Exhibitions)

RX is in the business of building businesses for individuals, communities and organisations. We elevate the power of face to face events by combining data and digital products to help customers learn about markets, source products and complete transactions at over 400 events in 22 countries across 43 industry sectors. RX is passionate about making a positive impact on society and is fully committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all our people. RX is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.rxglobal.com