In 2023, Farnborough International decided to look for a partner to support them on their sustainability journey and to help them calculate the carbon footprint of the world-famous Farnborough International Airshow.

When discussing the need for a partner, Sarah said: “We went out to tender with a request for proposal. We were looking for someone who could delve deep into data gathering and understood the nature of an international exhibition as well as the components that went with it.

“Many potential suppliers could not understand the size and scale of our event. Some could do rough estimations, but we wanted a more granular approach,” she explained.

“Members of the GCS team had been working at the show for decades which was a real advantage. GCS’s background knowledge of the show, understanding of our supply chain and how contractors build stands as well as the materials used was extremely valuable. These were areas that a standard carbon calculations company could not offer,” she said. “We did not need to explain what a stand was or what an exhibitor has to do to attend.”

GCS was appointed and its first task was to help calculate the emissions from visitor travel to and from the Farnborough International Airshow.

“Previously we worked the numbers out from a visitor’s address and guessed how they got to the show which was quite long winded,” said Sarah. With the introduction of the Green Circle Solutions Visitor Travel Carbon Calculator, Farnborough International could specifically target the visitor audience for the first time.

Typically, 100,000 people attend the flagship event over five days. Some 25,000 visitors shared their travel data via the GCS Visitor Travel calculator, which was beyond the expectations of the team, especially as sharing data was not mandatory.

The calculator was embedded into the visitor registration and attendees were asked if they would like to be sent their own personalised carbon footprint report as an incentive to share their travel data.

“The additional information request certainly did not deter people at all,” said Sarah. “We were delighted with the outcome.”

The next challenge for GCS was to help calculate the overall carbon footprint of the event itself, including visitor impact which was anticipated to make up over 75% of emissions since many visitors travel from overseas.

A key part of calculating the total emissions involved engaging exhibitors, suppliers, and contractors. “The good news was that GCS is already engaged broadly in the industry with a number of key suppliers,” she added.

“Whilst environmental impact information requests are in all the contracts and the majority of exhibitors and suppliers are keeping track of what they are doing as a business, there is always room for improvement. Many are trying to reduce their impact and reusing stands, for example, but we need get exhibitors and their contractors more comfortable and familiar with reporting the impact of their presence at the show. There is still a way to go.”

“GCS engaging with our suppliers saved us time and resources, including working with the catering and transportation companies,” Sarah explained.

Farnborough International is also well ahead with its waste strategy: 85% of waste is recycled and the rest goes to energy recovery and zero to landfill – and this has been in place for the past ten years. “We have had this in our mindset for a long time,” Sarah added.

People also ask, “what about the air show display itself” and GCS will be including this in the overall results with good fuel data supplied by the Operations team. The good news here is that all fuel supplied to display aircraft from the TAG owned Farnborough Airport site is Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

“We are very much at the beginning of our journey. We have been doing great things for a long time but not spoken about it. We never wanted to be seen to greenwash,” said Sarah.

Destination Zero

Farnborough International has the goal of operating with net zero carbon emissions through concentrating its efforts and actions across four strategic pillars, (1. Energy 2. Reduce, Reuse & Recycle 3. Partnerships, and 4. Wellbeing & Community) to be able to deliver events and experiences for years to come.

Collaborating with its industry-leading supply partners, the Destination Zero campaign aims to inspire and support clients in achieving their own goals by offering more sustainable choices.

So, what are the learnings for Sarah and team in terms of embedding sustainability into the business?

“Winning the hearts and minds of stakeholders was key,” she said. “Engaging with the board and senior leadership team was a critical first step. I gave a presentation to the board and each department to show them how investing in more sustainable practices saved money in the long run and that we were already doing lots of great things. Changing the mindset from a procurement perspective was an important milestone.”

Today, Sarah ensures that a sustainability update is included in each board meeting and that sustainability is everyone’s responsibility. Every department owns their own impact and knows what they should be doing to protect the planet and the business, making sure it is sustainable for the future.

“We have also adopted a reducing, reusing and recycling approach,” she said. “And whilst as an SME we don’t need to report, we will because we care about our impact.”

So, what is next for Farnborough International?

The final report from GCS on Farnborough International Airshow is being analysed and GCS will collaborate with the team to help them scrutinize each aspect of the show to see where further carbon emissions reductions can be made ahead of the 2026 event.

The team will also be able to calculate how quickly the organisation can get to NetZero, and the investment plan required. The current commitment is to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 and to reach Net Zero by 2050 but the team wants to get their quicker if they can.

Concluded Sarah: “I feel proud of what we have achieved in a relatively short time. It can take years if there is resistance but thankfully all the team are on board and encouraging the next generation of workforce, as they all want to know what we are doing in Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG). I feel like I can make more impact, my voice is heard, and I am empowered to make a difference.”