The World Economic Forum furthers sustainability of Annual Meeting with collaboration with SouthPole

The World Economic Forum furthers sustainability of Annual Meeting with collaboration with South Pole for carbon compensation.

The World Economic Forum, author of leading reports on climate change and host of the annual meeting of world leaders in the Alpine town of Davos, understands that driving the global sustainability agenda does not happen without impact. The same applied to their 2018 gathering of decision-makers and thought-leaders in Davos-Klosters, which, like any other large event, also leaves an environmental footprint.

Reducing the environmental impacts of the Forum's activities is achieved through a programme called Sustainable Forum, which global sustainability solutions provider South Pole is proud to contribute to.

In addition to carefully planned resource and energy management, the Forum works to minimise the environmental footprint associated with travel. Recognizing the significant environmental impact of air transport, the Forum has compensated for all CO2 emissions from participants, media and staff incurred from air travel to the Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters by collaborating with South Pole, a Forum Social Entrepreneur.

“As a Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur, I could not be prouder to collaborate with the Forum, with whom we have a shared mission to work towards a sustainable, low-carbon global economy," affirms Renat Heuberger, CEO, South Pole. “The Forum's Global Risk Report featured extreme weather events, natural disasters, and climate change as the top risks. Consequentially, climate change and sustainable development were key topics at this year's Annual Meeting. We are thus pleased that the Forum compensates for air travel emissions by supporting high-quality certified emission reduction projects from our portfolio."

This year, the World Economic Forum chose to support an emission reduction project located in Switzerland - where the Davos event took place - and several projects located in countries where other Forum events are organised during 2018. The selected projects channel finance into proven activities that further renewable energy, methane reduction, forest conservation and distribution of efficient cookstoves, and that are certified by leading carbon standards such as Gold Standard and the Verified Carbon Standard. The projects not only reduce emissions but also contribute to sustainable development among local communities:

• The renewable energy projects include a small-scale run-of-river hydro-plant in Brazil and a wind farm in Vietnam. These projects harness the energy of rivers and wind to produce clean electricity and replace electricity that would have been otherwise generated by fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas. The projects also provide employment opportunities for local communities.
• The methane reduction projects the Forum has invested in help further better waste management practices. In Switzerland, manure and agricultural residues produced by farms are typically stored in open containers releasing methane and CO2. By installing a biogas digester, farmers can use methane to generate renewable electricity.
• Forest conservation projects are essential not only for preserving the carbon stock in trees, but also for protecting biodiversity and sustaining people's livelihoods. Through a community-based approach, the Jacundá project in Brazil protects 95,000 hectares of Amazon forest and establishes sustainable non-timber supply chains.
• Improved and efficient cookstoves are distributed among communities in China and Mali. Compared to traditional stoves and open-fire cooking techniques, the new, efficient cookstoves require significantly less firewood and less cooking time. Less wood translates into reduced deforestation and better preservation of the carbon stock contained in trees. The reduced indoor air pollution in turn supports improved health and less respiratory illnesses, especially for women and children.

For further information:

• Read about on the World Economic Forum's sustainability programme here
• Access the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2018 report here
• Explore South Pole's solutions for events and conferences here