The purpose of this Environmental Sustainability Policy is to outline our commitment to reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG emissions or CO2e) and reducing our waste footprint, both within our organisation, and in the events we deliver. 

This policy focuses on environmental sustainability but will form part of a broader Corporate Social Responsibility Policy which will also cover legal compliance, business ethics and human rights, including Policies such as Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. 

We are increasing environmental awareness across our organisation with this policy and plan to embed carbon reduction and zero-waste practices in our everyday business.

We will communicate this policy to all our stakeholders, including clients, suppliers, and staff. We will do this to enable them to work with us in achieving our ambitions in this important area. 

Montgomery Group Purpose

To serve our world, nurturing relationships and developing opportunities. For more information, please visit www.montgomerygroup.com/our-purpose-and-history/

Montgomery Group Values 

• Ethically Commercial – Our decisions go beyond profitability and are centred on respect, honesty, and a desire to have a positive impact on the world around us
• Growth Mindset – We challenge ourselves with courage and curiosity to discover our full potential
• Embrace Collaboration – By actively seeking out diverse views, both internally and externally, we do all we can to ensure a resilient outcome
• Empowerment – We encourage our people to take responsibility.

Statement of Intent 

We recognise that we have a responsibility to minimise our impact on climate change and have publicly pledged our support for ‘Net Zero Carbon Events’ which aims to connect the events industry globally, to the rapidly growing movement towards net zero by 2050.

The Net Zero Carbon Events initiative aims to bring together a wide range of industry stakeholders to:

• Jointly communicate our industry’s commitment to tackling climate change and driving towards net zero by 2050
• Develop common methodologies for measuring the industry’s direct, indirect and supply chain greenhouse gas emissions
• Construct an industry-wide roadmap towards net zero by 2050, and emissions reductions by 2030 in line with the Paris Agreement, with support and guidance on key issues
• Foster collaboration with suppliers and customers to ensure alignment and common approaches
• Establish common mechanisms for reporting progress and sharing best practice
• We also recognise that most of our event activities are associated with contracted services. We therefore commit to working with all 3rd parties to measure and reduce emissions from event related activities.

Our Commitment

Our event teams are already working to reduce GHG emissions with the aim of achieving improvements year on year.  These cover the entire show cycle and include:

• Collecting data for waste, energy and water from venues and where this data is not available work with venues so that the collection of data becomes possible in the near future
• Work with contractors and venues, ask questions and where possible encourage the use of renewable energy, LED lighting, water stations for bottle refills, zero to landfill policies, reusable stands and furniture, lower quantities/ reusable/ recyclable carpets, source locally, use zero waste materials, reusable/ recyclable signage and eliminate use of single use plastics
• Make available recycle stations at our events and donate any unused food and drink samples to charities
• Encourage contractors to reduce journey emissions by consolidating as much as possible, use eco-friendly vehicles and encourage visitors and exhibitors alike to cycle, walk or use public transport when commuting to and from our events
• Reduce direct mail wherever possible
• Replaced paper show guides with pocket planners wherever possible
• Remove dates from signage wherever possible
• Request that media partners restrict to 50 magazines per partner on site
• Reduce volume of promotions bags at each event, audit waste and ensure they are made from sustainable materials
• Continue to monitor technological developments in digital badging, do not use plastic wallets and increasing use of inhouse lanyards which can be reused.

Accountability Culture 

Achieving our objectives involves engaging our teams to support our organisational ambitions, and planning from the start of projects is required for all event deliveries. We recognise that adhering to this Policy requires every member of our team to play their part and that the delivery of this policy falls into the remit of all employees.
 
We will therefore promote a shared accountability culture within our organisation, ensuring all team members work together to incorporate these sustainability goals into their day-to-day work routines and planning.
 
This will be achieved through training for staff, embedding these objectives into our internal operational processes and engaging staff in the development of future objectives.