IUCN and the National Host Committee’s Green Team followed through on ambitious goals for making the Congress as sustainable of an event as possible. The goal was to walk the talk for conservation, set an example for other events of its size and leave a lasting legacy of sustainability in Hawaiʻi. The Congress earned ISO20121 sustainable event certification and was the largest conference ever to earn the highest level of Hawaii Green Business certification.
- 100% of carbon emissions mitigated (Read about the carbon mitigation project in Cordillera Azul National Park in Peru)
- 100% recyclable exhibitions, and pavilions reused by local schools or composted by local farms
- 62% of all food (and 90% of vegetarian options) sourced locally
- 72% of official Congress hotels certified by the Hawaiʻi Green Business Program
- 50% of waste recycled or composted
- 0% of food service containers and utensils made from single-use plastic
“We are doing this not only because it is the right thing to do for this Congress. We’re doing it to develop a model that can be carried forward in Hawaiʻi and elsewhere,” says Alexandra Petersen, Congress Logistics Manager. "We want the initiatives we are putting in place to set a new standard for event sustainability and to continue to generate economic, social and environmental benefits for Hawai‘i well beyond the Congress."
Read the IUCN My Green Congress Sustainability Policy for more details on what IUCN and participants did to minimize the environmental impacts of the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016.
Read the carbon emission report from Atmosfair for the IUCN Congress 2016.