MICEBOOK - POWER 50 GREEN CHAMPIONS COVER 1 - Flipbook - Page 6
Page 6
Anna Peters
Ben Wielgus
Betsy Reed
Creative Director, Evolve Events
Head of Sustainability, Informa
Group
Senior Strategy and
Communications Consultant,
The Bulb
With over 78% of event emissions
attributed to travel, Anna believes that
addressing travel is where the industry
can truly make a difference. That’s why
Evolve champions sustainable train
travel, which emits only 14g of CO2 per
passenger mile, compared to a
staggering 285g for air travel.
To actively demonstrate the superiority
of train travel over flying, Anna took the
initiative to attend European industry
events such as IBTM Barcelona and IMEX
Frankfurt by train. Her journeys were part
of a collaboration with Eurostar and the
London Convention Bureau, who she
worked with to create compelling
content showcasing how the journey
itself can be just as enjoyable as the
destination.
Leading by example, Anna aimed to shift
perceptions and inspire others to step
out of their comfort zone and embrace
the benefits of slower, sustainable travel,
such as the opportunity to relax and
unwind and forge meaningful
connections.
She travelled in a group of four from the
UK to IBTM Barcelona last year. But after
sharing her experience, this year for IMEX,
she was joined by over 30 event
suppliers, venues, buyers, and
associations from the UK, Europe, and
America on the journey to Frankfurt via
Brussels. Through exclusive hire of a
Eurostar carriage, they were able to
provide onboard entertainment and
activities.
By choosing train travel instead of flying,
Anna and her travel companions were
able to save over 53kg of CO2 emissions
each on the London to Brussels route.
Her initiative received coverage across
industry media including micebook, with
video content generating 50,000 views,
demonstrating the tangible impact of
their actions, and fostering a movement
in the industry.
Evolve is now actively facilitating train
travel for those who prefer it, both for
clients and within its own workplace. It
recently joined Climate Perks, providing
employees with paid "journey days"
when they choose flight-free travel.
Ben was hired in 2016 to create the
sustainability team at Informa and in the
last seven years has led the events and
publishing company from sustainability
obscurity to being named most improved
in Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI)
and EcoAct’s rankings and now #1 in DJSI
for the media sector.
His goal was to ensure that sustainability
was always a competitive differentiator
for Informa but, more widely, to recognise
the collective responsibility and work
collaboratively with peers to try to support
the whole industry's efforts to become
more sustainable. In 2019, Ben led the
creation of the simple ‘Sustainable Event
Fundamentals’- 12 goals for every one of
Informa’s 500 trade shows (and 1,000
conferences). This framework was
adapted by the Association of Event
Organisers for use by all their members.
He now leads a team of 30 sustainability
professionals, and achievements include
more than 400 of Informa’s brands using
the Fundamentals programme across
events in the farming, concrete, fashion
and aviation sectors, embedding
sustainability inside their products to help
100,000s of customers do the same.
Under Ben’s leadership, Informa has
achieved a 70% reduction in scope 1+2
emissions since 2019, hitting SBTI targets
nine years early and saving 10,000s t CO2
a year, was CarbonNeutral Company
certified in 2020, and the 1st large
academic publisher to gain
CarbonNeutral Publications for all its 1,000s
of books and journals.
Ben was a main instigator and key steerco
member of the industry-wide Net Zero
Carbon Events Initiative, which was
launched at COP26 and now has 500
signatories (representing an estimated
30% of the entire global exhibitions
market). Using his background as a trainer
and tour guide, Ben puts sustainability to
individuals or 1,000s of people in their
language. He’s been a highly requested,
highly rated speaker at more than 150
events, podcasts and webinars across a
dozen countries in many different
industries.
Nearly 20 years into a career tenaciously
focused on social and environmental
issues, Betsy’s ambition is two-fold. Firstly,
to empower others to change the world,
by aligning their values and work, then
up-skilling them and giving them the
knowledge to communicate and
influence effectively. Secondly, to
mainstream awareness that sustainability
is about everything (not just the
environment) because people, planet, our
ecosystems are all interconnected and
inter-reliant.
Betsy delivers this in several ways: by
working only with clients who genuinely
want to step up their game and challenge
themselves to have a positive impact, by
giving talks that inspire; and by coaching
leaders and leadership teams on their
role as transformational leaders who
create cultures, systems and a future that
supports us all. She also creates and
delivers training including her ‘Grow Your
ESG Wisdom’ trainings, equipping and
empowering an ever-expanding group of
others in the world to work effectively with
complex issues like climate change, social
inequality and even data privacy.
The modules are always online to ensure
maximum accessibility, flexibility and
inclusion. They can be integrated into
coaching sessions or delivered to teams
in two two-hour trainings that focus on
understanding the landscape around ESG,
the risks and opportunities and then
practical application of how to integrate
this knowledge into their area of work.
‘Grow Your ESG Wisdom’ trainings were
launched in early 2023, and so far, nearly
50 leaders from world-leading
communications and public affairs
agencies, the creative sector and
consultants to intergovernmental bodies
like the UN and OECD have taken part. The
approach and material will form part of a
new core offer by The Bulb, a pioneering
sustainability consultancy in the events
industry, bringing its reach to dozens more
participants in a new sector within the
coming months.
