Sustainability in the global MICE/business events industry – the current state, and the road ahead

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a comprehensive overview of sustainability in the MICE industry and identifies research gaps.

🏢実務担当者:Highlights actionable areas for reducing carbon emissions in event planning and supply chain management.

🏛政策担当者:Emphasizes the need for unified sustainability standards and collaboration across the MICE industry.

The intent is to frame and summarize the current state of the global MICE/Business events (BE) industry's sustainability efforts. This includes ascertaining (1) the global MICE/BE industry's total carbon emissions as a percentage of the world's total of 57.1 GtCO2e, (2) the “dirtiest” components in the global MICE/BE industry supply chain, (3) the “easy wins” that are within the influence of the industry stakeholders, (4) whether there are appropriate sustainability standards and certifications in place, (5) how technology is aiding the progress of sustainability efforts and (6) whether there is benchmarking for leading industry stakeholders in sustainability best practices. This paper adopts a content analysis review method by combing through existing reports from the two largest umbrella organisations for the global MICE/BE industry bodies – Events Industry Council (EIC) and Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), and their significant members, including the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), American Association of Association Executives (ASAE) and International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE). Adjacent industry bodies that have impact on the MICE/BD industry like Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), Global Destination Sustainability Movement (GDS-M), International Air Transport Association (IATA), International Maritime Organisation (IMO), International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and International Energy Agency (IEA) are also included. Firstly, the “dirtiest” components in the MICE/BE industry supply chain are (1) F&B, (2) accommodation and (3) stand design and production, of which GHG emissions reduction are well within the influence of industry stakeholders. Secondly, the supply of and demand for MICE/BE sustainability standards and certification are healthy. Thirdly, there is a need for the respective sustainability efforts to scale and be combined, into one broad global MICE/BE industry sustainability movement and platform that commands the attention, resources and respect of all within and beyond the MICE/BE industry. Different approaches and methodologies are adopted by different industries in measuring carbon emissions and its reduction, making inter-industry comparisons difficult. There is limited study today that provides an overview of where the global MICE/BE industry is at with regards to sustainability efforts. Industry stakeholders remain uncertain how their initiatives contribute to the larger efforts within and outside of their industry, including those in tourism and hospitality. The originality of this paper lies in its action-based focus, in summarising what has and has not been done and a rallying call for the industry to focus on the low-flying fruits (e.g. GHG emissions reduction in the three “dirtiest” components of the MICE/BE industry supply chain).

• semanticscholar https://doi.org/10.1108/abac-08-2025-0149first seen 2026-05-05 22:16:32