Net Zero and Carbon Neutral wooden blocks being placed on top of each other to build a pyramid

RMetS Events - Net Zero Pledge

The Royal Meteorological Society is a signatory to Net Zero Carbon Events. In doing so, our events team identify and prioritise actions to reduce emissions and set goals for our programme accordingly. This aligns with the Society’s own Net Zero Pledge and means that we will collaborate with partners, suppliers and customers who aim to drive change across the value chain.

 

Initiatives already in place

Since 2022, we have been recording how delegates travel to our events to enable us to calculate the emissions produced from each event. Where available, we are live-streaming events and now hold more online events to reduce travel. The location of the events is mainly chosen around the convenience for attendees and kept local if possible.

For in-person events, we aim to offer only vegetarian and vegan food. All catering has been requested to use local produce and limit the amount of single-use plastic. Our name badges are recycled, and all inserts are recycled post-events. We offer web versions of all our materials to reduce the waste onsite, only providing a reference copy onsite.

 

Short Term Goals

We aim to continue avoiding, reducing and substituting by doing the following:

  • Increase the percentage of short online events
  • Aim to use venues and suppliers with sustainable policies who already have a plan in place to become carbon neutral
  • Continue to work towards single-use plastic removal at all events
  • Confirm venues have recycling facilities and aim to use venues that have clear food waste policies
  • Aim to use reusable/recyclable or compostable dinnerware rather than single-use items
  • Ask venues to provide water fountains or jugs of water for delegates to refill bottles, and we will encourage attendees to bring their own water bottles
  • Only use venues with good public transport access that serve as regional hubs
  • Research and implement sustainable name badges and lanyards when required
  • Utilise green couriers where possible.

 

Long-Term Goals

  • Only use sustainable venues or venues that consciously try to work towards net zero
  • Use couriers who use electric vehicles
  • All suppliers will ideally be carbon neutral and locally sourced
  • We will use no single-use plastic.

The Society will continue to evaluate its progress and appreciates our delegates’ support.