A responsible congress
The environment:
A shared responsibility!
It’s only natural that
the ICLEI World Congress 2018
would be an ecoresponsible event!
We’d like to thank our partner for support
in making this event possible.
ICLEI 2018 Environmental Responsibility Policy
During the ICLEI World Congress 2018, in keeping with its third community sustainable development plan “Sustainable Montréal”, Montréal proposed an environmental responsibility policy for this congress.
For that purpose, the city called upon all actors and stakeholders involved in this congress to engage in an awareness process and to take part in the implementation of several actions aiming to minimize the environmental footprint and maximize the social and environmental benefits of the event. The environmental responsibility action plan provides the framework for all parties involved in the event to make informed decisions incorporating sustainable development principles in retaining new products and services. Furthermore, it will identify strategies at every stage of the planning process and will propose concrete actions to reduce the consumption of fossil fuel, water, raw and processed, and to implement a responsible waste management system. Finally, it will facilitate the communication of successful initiatives for the purposes of raising awareness and city staff, ICLEI International staff, congress participants, service provides and partners.
In order to cement this firm commitment, Montréal wishes to obtain the BNQ 9700-253 Responsible Event Management certification that defines the criteria regarding best management practices for event organizers. The BNQ standard applies as part of a voluntary program certification. It allows for the recognition, by an independent third party, of the event’s conformity with responsible event management practices by an event organizer.
ICLEI 2018 Responsible Procurement Policy
Environmentally responsible procurement: Approach to procurement integrating environmental and social criteria in the purchase of goods and services, as a means of reducing the environmental impact, increasing social benefits and strengthening the sustainability of organizations, throughout the lifecycle of those products (Sustainability Purchasing Network, 2006).
With this policy, the ICLEI World Congress 2018 heightened awareness of notions of sustainability among its suppliers, defined the guiding principles behind the acquisition of goods and services suppliers for the congress, and encouraged suppliers to apply sustainable acquisition principles to their own procurement practices.
Sustainability measures established
Listed below are the measures put in place by the city and its partners to ensure that the ICLEI World Congress 2018 has the smallest possible environmental footprint:
- Development of a sustainable management action plan for the ICLEI World Congress 2018;
- Distribution of the action plan to all stakeholders;
- Personalized training for stakeholders, where required;
- Selection of an event site with environmental certification and established best management practices in terms of sustainable development: Le Palais des congrès de Montréal holds BOMA BESTMD certification as well as ASTM-APEX certification as an environmentally sustainable congress site;
- Selection of hotels within walking distance of the event site, and promotion of public transit use;
- Documentation on GHG consumption during the planning and presentation of the event;
- Implementation of a “zero-paper” approach, where possible, applied to printing briefing documents and official communications;
- Adoption of measures aimed at reducing the use of electrical power during the event (ventilation, lighting, etc.);
- Signage plan that minimizes print signage and uses media already in place (physical and electronic);
- Selection of materials used (reduction at source, recyclables, recycled) by the designer in booths and signage;
- Reduction in relation to the exhibition: communicate the target objectives to exhibitors and solicit their participation;
- Selection favored by the food caterer:
- Locaux et de saison
- Biologiques
- Équitables
- Disponibles en vrac
- Végétariens
- Installation of residual materials management islands (recycling, collection of liquids and composting) in strategic areas of the PCM;
- Drastic reduction in the use of individual containers, condiments and other food items offered in bulk, where possible;
- Redistribution of non-perishable food not consumed to a local non-profit organization
- Establishment of a “green brigade” to raise awareness among participants of individual initiatives that they can adopt, such as sorting residual materials at source, filling their water bottles, etc.
- Evaluation and compensation for GHGs produced during the planning and presentation of the event.
