Help to reduce our carbon footprint...
This year, you might see some small changes at the International Forum, including:
✅ Swaps to menu items to reduce their impact – for example, swapping out high-carbon foods like beef and lamb for lower-carbon meats and more veggie options. We’re also reducing the amount of chocolate and cheese we are serving.
✅ We’re cutting down on giveaways like pens, handouts and event guides. These will still be available if you need them, but we’re taking our event guide online and reducing the number of pages, meaning less carbon, less waste and less to carry around. We’ll also be collecting lanyards after the conference, to help with our recycling efforts.
✅ We’ll be providing TFL public transport passes for all attendees taking part in our offsite experience days on Wednesday.
✅ Recommending sustainable printers to all our poster presenters ahead of the conference, and reviewing options for recycling printed posters post-event.
✅ We’ll also be doing lots of observations and measurements to make sure we gather information from all our suppliers around their waste and sustainability initiatives, which will help us to reduce our footprint in 2025 and beyond.
How can I do my bit?
We will make it as easy as possible to be sustainable at the International Forum, but there are a few ways you can make more sustainable choices and do your bit to tackle the climate emergency.
Getting from the airport
There are plenty of public transport options to get from Heathrow Airport or Gatwick Airport to ExCel, which are more sustainable (and may be cheaper) than taking a taxi. The Elizabeth tube line goes directly from London Heathrow to ExCeL London, and takes just 43 minutes.
The best entrance for the conference will be the East Entrance at ExCeL London. This can be accessed from the Prince Regent DLR station. If you are taking the Elizabeth Line to Custom House, then you will need to walk through the ExCeL from the West Entrance (approx. 5-10 mins).
If you cannot avoid using a car, then why not find a friend to travel with? If you are taking a taxi to or from the airport or around the city, then find a buddy to share it with. This will half your impact and the cost.
Plan your journey to ExCeL London here.
Getting around London during the International Forum
If you can take public transport, go for it! Try taking public transport or walking if you need to get around.
ExCel London is easily accessible through the DLR, Uber Boat or the Elizabeth tube line. Contactless cards, and tickets can be used to travel on all public transport routes, with bus journeys being just £1.75.
We’d recommend you download CityMapper as an easy way to plan your journey and receive live travel updates.
Bring your own
We’d like to encourage you to bring your own pen, notepad and drink bottle.
This seems like a small change but if everyone at the conference brings their own, this could save several tonnes of carbon by removing the use of resources and waste that are needed to produce notebooks and pens.
Accommodation
Many hotels are now promoting a sustainable service, for example, keeping your towels for the duration of your stay (if it is a short one), setting up the air con at a higher setting, or switching off all devices overnight.
After the International Forum
To support our collective journey for future years, we will be sharing a quick survey with you all at the conference. We would appreciate your support in completing the survey as this will help us understand things like how you travelled to the International Forum and where you stayed.
ExCeL London - certified as carbon neutral venue since 2022
We are delighted to have chosen ExCeL London for the delivery of this International Forum, recognising their commitment to sustainability and to creating a positive impact on the local community.
Some of ExCeL London’s most notable achievements to date include being certified carbon neutral in 2022 – and the first UK venue to achieve the internationally recognised PAS 2060 status.
READ MORE ABOUT EXCEL LONDON’S SUSTAINABILITY AND LEGACY
Some of ExCeL London’s sustainability features include:
- 100% of electricity comes from renewable sources and all gas is accounted for through Voluntary Carbon Offsets (VCOs)
- They are home to one of the largest commercial wormeries, containing 300,000 worms to recycle food waste
- They have operated a zero waste-to-landfill policy since 2012, with 71% of waste recycled in 2021 and the remaining 29% used to create refuse-derived fuels
- They have water fountains installed throughout the venue which results in 200,000 fewer plastic bottles being used every year
- The venue’s waterless urinals save enough water to fill 6 Olympic-size swimming pools each year
- 25% of their catering menus serve plant-forward, vegan or vegetarian options and 80% of their menus use British seasonal fruit and vegetables
- The venue’s living wall along the promenade has 9,000 plants which remove air pollutants
- Used cooking oil is collected for recycling into biofuel
- HVO is used for plant and machinery across the venue which has up to 93% emissions savings compared to white diesel