Event sustainability body isla has published its European
Temperature Check 2025, a follow-up to their 2023 UK-only study.
Isla launched the report at its recent Made Possible Festival
held at The Barbican Centre on Tuesday 6 May.
The report analyses data from almost 1,000 events measured in TRACE, isla’s carbon measurement platform, and blends it with survey responses and in-depth interviews from brands, agencies, venues and suppliers.
“As climate pressures intensify, the sector faces growing
urgency to adapt to a changing world. Our new European report gives the event
industry the data to act. We analysed almost 1000 TRACE-measured events and
took insights from a Europe-wide survey to set clear benchmarks and pinpoint
fast, practical opportunities to act with impact,” said isla CEO & Founder,
Anna Abdelnoor. “Without comprehensive measurement, we cannot track trends, set
realistic benchmarks, or drive evidence-based change. Our ambition is to make
‘start measuring’ a given, not a rallying cry.”
Report highlights include:
Climate impact on events
- Climate change is driving extreme weather
events, disrupting over 2,000 global events between 2004-2024. Rising insurance
costs and strained infrastructure are significant challenges.
- Travel remains the largest emissions source,
with flights contributing 77 per cent of travel emissions despite being only
1.6 per cent of journeys.
Data-driven sustainability
- Events generate an average of 7.61 tCO₂e, with
61 per cent of emissions from production, materials, catering, and
infrastructure.
- Only 31 per cent of events report audience
travel data, highlighting a need for consistent measurement.
Sustainable practices
Plant-based menus can significantly reduce catering
emissions. A full swap from red meat to plant-based options for all recorded
meals could save approximately 714 tCO₂e. This is equivalent to avoiding the
waste of 6.5 million bananas, which represents the number wasted in the UK
every five days.
In 2024, 56 per cent of menus at events were meat-free, a
slight increase from 55 per cent in 2022. Within this, 17 per cent of the menus
were fully plant-based. This is ahead of the national averages, with only 12
per cent of the UK population following a plant-based diet and 2.1 per cent across
Europe.
Access the European Temperature Check Report 2025 here.
