Impact Festival: Can large-scale events ever truly be sustainable?
Sustainability is at the core of Impact Festival’s mission. The event aims to create a space that fosters collaboration, showcases innovative solutions, and inspires actionable change while also consistently implementing sustainability practices and measures. Yet, this comes with a cost in the form of carbon emissions. Acknowledging that large-scale events may never be fully sustainable, Impact Festival strives to follow recognised best practices to reduce their emissions and inspire others to do the same. Given the mutual commitment to addressing carbon footprints and supporting innovative climate solutions, a partnership between Impact Festival and Klimate was a natural fit to help create a more sustainable event.
Employees
6
Main location
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Industry
FinTech & ESG
climate Strategy
Carbon removal
Why carbon removal
Commitment to Sustainability
Reducing emissions is top priority in the sustainability agenda at Impact Festival. Their strategy is guided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations and the European Green Deal. Beyond hosting an event that discusses innovation and sustainable transformation, the festival also strives to lead by example in sustainable event organisation. Following the action areas outlined by the Federal Environment Agency, sustainable practices are integrated into every phase of the festival’s planning and execution.
While every effort is made to reduce emissions, Impact Festival acknowledges that a large-scale event will inevitably generate carbon emissions. Recognising the areas of complete emission reduction that are currently unattainable, the festival takes responsibility by actively mitigating its impact through carbon removal and other sustainability initiatives.
"We try to do everything we can to minimise our Event Carbon Footprint (ECF). However, we are aware that we cannot currently reduce to zero when organizing an event. That’s why we see it as our responsibility to counterbalance the unavoidable through targeted investments."
– Rick Neu, Impact Festival
Carbon removal strategy
Investing for Impact
Klimate proactively reached out to Impact Festival, and it quickly became clear that both organisations shared a common vision for sustainability.
Recognising that some emissions are unavoidable when organising an event, Impact Festival sought areas to take further responsibility for what they could not reduce. To address this, the festival invests in high-quality carbon removal solutions to counterbalance its residual tonnes. Klimate’s expertise in carbon removal provided the structured and effective approach to mitigating these emissions that Impact Festival desired.
Highlighting a holistic event strategy
To minimise its environmental impact, the festival has implemented several sustainability measures in addition to investing in carbon removal. These core areas include: event organisation, transport and arrival, catering, waste management and recycling, as well as social sustainability measures in diversity, inclusion, and education.
Key areas of success for 2024:
- Choosing a more accessible venue: Moving to Messe Frankfurt significantly improved accessibility via public transport, reducing car travel from 36% in 2023 to just 20% in 2024.
- Sustainable service provider selection: The festival prioritises regional providers who demonstrate strong sustainability and social impact commitments, including fair working conditions and a focus on event safety.
You can read their sustainability strategy in-depth and track progress here.
Key results so far:
Impact Festival has chosen a well-rounded portfolio balancing climate impact and important co-benefits.
- They have removed 175 tonnes CO2 across methods.
- This amount corresponds with emissions measured after the event.
Moving forward
Future Outlook
Impact Festival and Klimate are aligned in the ethos to create strong partnerships that drive sustainability innovation. Moving forward, the festival intends to continue this collaboration and generate impact via carbon removal while setting an example for other large-scale events.
About
About Impact Festival: The IMPACT FESTIVAL is Europe’s biggest B2B event for sustainable innovation and connects sustainability solutions with corporates and investors to accelerate economic transformation.
Talk to a carbon removal strategist
Finding the right way to remove your CO₂ emissions can seem overwhelming. Our team is here to help. Book a meeting to walk through how our solution might fit your needs.