Launch: Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol

Press release, April 22

A new advanced level guide, for sustainable event management The Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol, which uses the United Nations' COP15 conference in Copenhagen as its case study, provides clear example to show event planners the ease and strategic value of combining sustainability in their meetings management with bottom line success.

Last December, Copenhagen hosted what was recently certified as the world's first sustainable, international political summit - the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15), attracting over 33,000 people. Now, the sustainable event planning actions and strategy from COP15 have been documented in the COP15 Event Sustainability Report and the corollary Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol (CSMP)

The CSMP is an advanced level guide to organising sustainable meetings aimed at corporate, governmental and association event organisers, as well as consultants and managers of large venues and hotels. It is designed to be used in conjunction with The COP15 Event Sustainability Report which provides in-depth details of the COP15 sustainability approach, initiatives and performance.

The COP15 Event Sustainability Report is the most comprehensive document of its kind and is among the first event reports ever to integrate measurement factors which comply with the Global Reporting Initiative. With clear examples and specific measured data, the COP15 Event Sustainability Report sets a new standard for the meetings industry.

The COP15 report and CSMP have been developed by a coalition of seven Danish partners, each of whom have worked for years to develop significant improvements and innovations in sustainable business practice. They share a common vision to accelerate the sustainable development of the international meetings industry.

"It is the firm belief of all partners that the meetings industry must create a more sustainable path, if it is to continue to validate its societal license to operate, deliver value to clients and provide good returns on investment to its stakeholders. The Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol is our contribution to that," says Steen Jakobsen, Convention Director at Wonderful Copenhagen Convention Bureau on behalf of the Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Coalition whose members include: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, VisitDenmark, The City of Copenhagen, Novo Nordisk A/S, The Bella Center A/S, MCI Copenhagen and Wonderful Copenhagen Convention Bureau.

The CSMP and the COP15 Report will be presented to the UN with a recommendation that future UN meetings be developed along the guidelines laid out in Copenhagen.

The highest possible level of sustainability

The decision that COP15 should be organised to a far greater level of sustainability than any previous UN climate change conference was taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.

"The ambition was to make COP15 the most environmentally friendly climate change conference ever held. We wanted to demonstrate how a large, complex, international event could be organised in a more sustainable and strategic way to benefit the organisers, participants and environment," says Svend Olling, Head of Department at The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.

For over two years prior to COP15, the Danish government, the City of Copenhagen and the venue, Bella Center A/S, invested exceptional amounts of time, energy and money into ensuring the event was of the highest possible level of sustainability.

Facts about the Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol:

• Copies of the Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol and its corollary document, the COP15 Event Sustainability Report, can be downloaded from www.csmp.dk
• The event management system behind the organisation of COP15 was certified by Dansk Standard according to the international event management standard BS8901. This standard is also the target for the Olympic Games in 2012 in London.
• The Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol and the COP15 Event Sustainability Report were written and designed by MCI Sustainable Services on behalf of and with input from the partners of Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Coalition: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (logistical organiser of COP15), Bella Center A/S (venue for COP15), VisitDenmark (Denmark's official national tourism organisation), Wonderful Copenhagen Convention Bureau, The City of Copenhagen, MCI Copenhagen (professional congress organiser) and Novo Nordisk A/S.