MICEBOOK - POWER 50 GREEN CHAMPIONS COVER 1 - Flipbook - Page 13
Page 13
Jemma Peers
Jimmy Garcia
Joanna Radford
Managing Director, Top Banana
Founder & Creative Director, Jimmy
Garcia Catering
Head of Moving Image, Cheerful
Twentyfirst
Preparing to cater for Meta (Facebook) at
Davos in 2020 was the catalyst for the
huge shift in sustainability that Jimmy
has since applied at Jimmy Garcia
Catering (JGC). Working with David
Stubbs, world-renowned Sustainability
Consultant, the company created its first
single-use plastic-free kitchen at Davos.
This inspired Jimmy to take up the
challenge of providing the full, creative
JGC experience for all its clients whilst
making the least environmental impact
possible.
The moving image team add incredible
impact to the events and communications produced by Cheerful Twentyfirst,
but they are storytellers, not event profs.
Advertising and moving image production
are sectors of their own with sustainability
practices and tools that are known and
understood by those working in them.
Jemma Peers, Managing Director of Top
Banana, part of TBA Group, has led the
charge in initiating TBA Group’s ESG
charter, ‘Do The Right Thing’, to reshape
the way the agency and industry thinks,
acts and impacts both people and planet.
Her approach was not to see this as a
simple box-ticking exercise. She wanted to
ensure the agency could be held
accountable, not making bold claims that
were unobtainable, but understanding
that transformation takes time and
collaboration is essential. Jemma
recognised the importance of seeking
advice from experts, so she enlisted the
advice of Matt Grey from event:decision
and implemented its TRACK carbon
measurement platform, joined isla and
engaged with speakers and trainers to
upskill the team.
Additionally, she established partnerships
with specialist suppliers who provide
sustainable products, services, and
alternatives for event equipment and
materials such as City Harvest, Event
Cycle, and Trees for Travel. Jemma's
expertise extends to working on projects
aligned with clients' own ESG initiatives,
such as Whitbread Celebrates and The
Body Shop At Home™ Momentum
Conference.
Led by her own research in creating Do
The Right Thing, Jemma has been able set
benchmarks to measure against,
including that 100% of events are carbon
audited by 2025, prioritising the selection
of green venues with verified
sustainability credentials, using a
diligence tool for every event to measure
and assess each ESG element, and
engage with either the Science-Based
Targets initiative (SBTi) or Net Zero Carbon
Events programs to understand, mitigate,
and offset the impact of the core business
activities.
Jemma’s determination in ensuring the
TBA Group team can confidently act and
make recommendations that will have
measurable differences and promote a
more sustainable future for the events
industry, is testament to her willingness to
continue to learn, develop, give back and
improve the events industry, now and in
the future.
In the last two years, he has overseen the
adoption of a three-pillar approach to all
event and restaurant menus to ensure
that sustainability is at the heart of
everything. This includes ensuring all
suppliers are closely vetted and of
exceptional repute, providing clients with
the highest quality, locally sourced
produce no matter where the event takes
place and specifically, whenever possible
from within 10 miles of the venue.
JGC routinely adds sustainable
measures to event pitches, plans and
reports with lower impact measures at
most of its events, has set minimum
sustainability criteria for suppliers, and
now embeds data collection processes
into operations, with carbon impacts
logged and tracked as standard.
It has installed the EvoGro plant growing
system for all its microgreens, uses ORCA
to break down any food waste that
cannot be used to create renewable,
sustainable energy, has partnered with
Skoot to allow dining customers and
clients to plant trees in a mangrove
forest in Kenya, and donates leftover food
from events to Waterloo Community
Fridge, which serves people who are
struggling with food poverty.
JGC is a member of isla and uses the
Trace tool and Proseed framework to
evaluate carbon emissions across all its
events and is on the road to B-Corp
accreditation. From year-end 2023, it will
be able to publish reports disclosing Net
Zero progress in annual carbon
reductions and offsetting for company
operations and its events business.
This meant a different approach to
getting them on board with the agency’s
ambitious sustainability goals was
required. Jo is an advocate for ensuring
that the tools and language are right for
her team. As a founding member of the
internal company-wide sustainability
leadership team, she ensures all policies
use inclusive language that her team and
clients, understand.
When it came to ensuring her team were
measuring their part of the company’s
Scope 3 emissions, Jo chose to trial
AdGreen as their emissions calculation as
it offers the language her staff are
accustomed to. She worked closely with a
consultant who had worked across event
production and photography, film &
television, who could speak both
languages and support her to adapt for
suitability, rather than try to fit her round
team into a square hole. After successful
trials, Jo’s team are now measuring 100%
of their client-based emission creation,
which feeds into the extensive client
emission reporting that the event team
launched, allowing Cheerful Twentyfirst’s
clients to understand the full picture.
At the time of publication, Jo’s team have
over 25 dedicated film projects that have
completed their carbon measurement.
This measurement work is contributing to
an internal system that allows the
department to estimate emissions before
work is started and advise clients on
mitigation.
Shifting the mindset of an entire creative
department is a testament to Jo’s
commitment and advocacy. Cheerful
Twentyfirst is now exploring a future where
all content producers, freelance or
internal, are AdGreen trained.
