Vision:2025 is the outdoor events industry network for environmental sustainability, established in 2010, and now representing over 600 event businesses through industry body stakeholders: Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), Association of Festival Organisers (AFO), National Outdoor Events Association (NOEA) Without Walls, South West Events Forum (SWEF), the Event Industry Forum (EIF), Production Service Association (PSA) and Festival Republic. 

About the Green Events Code

The Green Events code has been developed by the Vision:2025 group in consultation with the industry over the past 10 months. It is intended to provide clear and robust minimum  standards and shared targets for sustainability. They are to be understood and adopted by all stakeholders across the outdoor festival and events industry – event organisers, local authorities and supply chain.

The Code represents a science-based approach, aligned with existing frameworks and initiatives – global, national, and sector specific – see FAQs for list.

Development of the Code has been financially supported by the Association of Independent Festival’s (AIF), Festival Republic and Superstruct, and is supported by the DCMS, LIVE, the Local Authority Event Organisers Association (LAEOG) and the Institute of Licensing (IoL), with more significant stakeholders to be confirmed shortly. 

The Green Events Code

Download the Green Events Code (PDF)

Why is it needed?

In the absence of legislation or recognised minimum standards for event sustainability, it is important that we, as an outdoor events sector, step forward together to create shared targets and standards that meet the challenges of the climate crisis. 

Local authorities are increasingly creating standards and requirements for events as part of licensing and site permissions processes. A key aim of the Green Events Code is to create consistent expectations across the UK for event organisers, licensing authorities, Safety Advisory Groups, and local authorities.

Where did this come from? A brief history

The DCMS Select Committee on The Future of UK Music Festivals recommended in a report (May 2021), that “the Government, the Local Government Association and representatives from across the festival sector develop standardised environmental objectives that local authorities must adopt when licensing festivals”.

The Government response to the DCMS recommendations was published in August 2021:

The Government agrees with the Committee. The Minister for Digital and Culture made clear when giving evidence to the Select Committee that she believed it “is very important that local authorities make sure that they include strict environmental measures within their licensing framework”. 

Discussion at the Vision:2025 industry steering group meeting 06.10.21, concluded broad agreement amongst industry stakeholders that:

• including environmental standards in arrangements between local authorities and event organisers is in principle a good thing for the environment, because it could promote a shift in practices in the sector, however;
• there is a risk of there being a ‘lottery’ of standards and enforcement if it were left to Local Authorities to create standards and enforce them, as many currently do not have the expertise to determine or monitor environmental standards.
• the success of the Purple Guide offers a good precedent for how the events industry is capable of establishing best practice, with government endorsement. 
• Irrespective of the current context, creating a Green Code of Conduct is a practical and potentially effective step that the industry can take to improve standards across the value chain by establishing top-level shared principles that relate to and apply to all stakeholders and;
• This work is symbiotic with the recent LIVE Green Vision and Declaration for the wider music industry, supporting the aim of every organisation taking responsibility for measuring and reporting emissions. 

A Draft Green Code of Conduct was prepared in late 2021, and has undergone 10 months of industry consultation, via online surveys, an industry roundtable meeting, and presentations to LIVE, the DCMS, UK Music, IoL, LAEOG.

Next steps

The Green Events Code [Beta] officially launched as a ‘working standard in development’ at the Sustainable Events Summit, 19^th October 2022. 

Work is underway to engage further with all stakeholders to understand how to implement the code most effectively. It is a journey, and it will take some time. A key part of this work will be to understand the support and resources organisations of all types require to meet the standards and work with the Code. 

Over the next year, we will work with the Local Government Association (LGA), LAEOG and the IoL to develop an adoption strategy for local authorities. As part of this, the Green Events Code will be piloted as a standard with local authorities in all the regions – England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

We aim that the Green Events Code be ready for wide-scale adoption by early 2024 at the latest.

In time, the code will have a dedicated website with all partners credited, and the ability to join the Green Events Code for events and local authorities. However, this is not intended to be a pledge or ‘badge’ / certification of any kind – rather a collaborative effort to establish clear standards and stimulate best practice for a better future.

Acknowledgements 

• the Green Events Code offers a set of standards and targets to work toward. We recognise that events vary in type, size, frequency, location and resources – every journey is different, and particularly, smaller and community events need support to make changes.
• there are existing initiatives, frameworks and standards for event sustainability, such as ISO20121, the Race to Zero, and the Net Zero Events Pledge. The Green Events Code has been designed specifically by and for the UK outdoor festival and events sector, as a practical step toward establishing standards that are sector-specific and practically implementable. 
• there are well-establish assessment tools and services that can support events to improve their practices, such as Trace, Creative Green and A Greener Festival. The Green Events Code is not an assessment or certification.

Get Involved, fund or find out more

• Register an interest in the Green Events Code and stay up to date

• Get in contact to find out more

• Help fund the code

FAQs

Q. I’m already signed up as Vision: 2025 member and taken the pledge – what do I do?

A. All the 2025 targets remain valid and align with those in  the Green Events Code. There is no need to ‘sign up’ to the Green Events Code. Carry on with the good work!

Q. We are a small organisation with limited resources – how will this affect us?

A. We are working with industry bodies who represent smaller and community events to understand what resources you need to support any changes. All our resources will be free to access

Q. Elements of the Code don’t relate to my business activity or event – what do I do?

A. That’s OK. The Green Events Code isa guide and it cannot apply in every detail to every event. Identify the elements that do apply to your event and work on those.

Q. Is this just another industry initiative based on voluntary actions that ultimately won’t change anything?

A. No, it isn’t an initiative to sign up to or make a pledge, primarily. It’s important to understand that there is no realistic prospect in the short term of legislation that pertains to event sustainability. In the absence of this, the Green Event Code is a concerted effort to establish standards that are environmentally credible, workable for events and widely adopted. 

Q. If this is adopted by local authorities as part of the licensing process, could it be yet another requirement in an already demanding process?

A. There are two key points here: (a) Local authorities across the UK are already putting in place requirements that relate to event sustainability. The Green Events Code intends to create consistency across the UK for what event will be required to provide, a significant benefit to event organisers and for those engaged in tenders, and (b) The Green Events Code will not be one of the four licensing objectives under the Licensing Act (2003) and as such a licence cannot be denied – it’s more a case of best practice. It’s more likely that site permissions will require proof of standards, which is where the Green Events Code can become a common language and recognised standard.

Contact

Do you have a question we have not answered? Great! Get in touch with Vision2025 – this is a journey and they want your feedback email [email protected]