Sustainability policy 2023-2024

Purpose: This policy informs BESydney’s commitment to sustainability.

Vision: Building a sustainable future.

BESydney is committed to supporting the sustainability goals of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and our clients. We believe that a sustainable future requires resilience and relies on collaboration. BESydney brings global meetings to Australia that integrate business, government and community – collective effort that generates solutions for change. Through a shared agenda, these meetings bring together people with diverse minds applied across disciplines to diffuse knowledge, address challenges and create progress that resonates globally.

How we achieve this

Certified membership of the Climate Active Network

BESydney is a certified member of the Climate Active Network, an ongoing partnership between the Australian Government and Australian businesses to drive voluntary climate action. Our certification confirms that we have reduced our carbon emissions as much as possible and then invested in projects that reduce or remove emissions from the atmosphere. Overall, the emissions of our organisation equal net zero or are ‘neutral’. To achieve this certification, we  have developed an Emissions Reduction strategy and have committed to reducing our organisation emissions by 30 percent by 2030. We have also purchased 100 percent of our offsets through the Aboriginal Carbon Foundation Company for The Karlantijpa North Savanna Burning Project, which benefits the environment and brings benefits to traditional owners including training, income, access to country, cultural sustainability, and project ownership.

Sustainable Destination Partnership

BESydney is proud to be an Associate Member of the Sustainable Destination Partnership. Developed by the City of Sydney, the Partnership includes Sydney's leading hotels, event centres, cultural institutions and tourism bodies, which are committed to working together to improve environmental performance and build Sydney's reputation as a leading sustainable destination.

Our sustainable partners

By partnering with ecologically responsible service providers, venues and tourism operators we can connect our clients with a network of stakeholders that lessen the environmental impact that business events have on our city. Find our sustainable partners.

Global Destination Sustainability Index

BESydney is proud to be a member of the Global Destination Sustainability Movement (GDSM). Sydney was one of the first cities in the world – and the first in Australia – to join GDSM and report into its Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index), which promotes the sustainable growth of international meeting destinations, highlighting best practices and responsible business tourism.

Hosting a sustainable meeting in Sydney

We understand that many of our clients value sustainable meetings and wish to work with their host city to lessen environmental impact. To help clients create sustainable meetings in Sydney, we have developed sustainable event guidelines, which are available on our website. We also promote Sydney’s environmental assets in our bid proposals and promote connectivity between our city’s sustainability contacts and our clients and partners whenever possible.

Single-use pledge

We are committed to reducing our reliance on single use items. This is in support of the City of Sydney’s goal of zero waste by 2030. We actively encourage our staff to demonstrate leadership in this context by the following actions:

• Apply a digital first approach.
• Carry a reusable bottle.
• Bring your own shopping bag.
• Use a thermos or a KeepCup.
• Say no to disposable cutlery.
• Say no to plastic straws.
• Avoid excessive food packaging and printing.
• Use the office recycling facilities.

BEGreen Committee

BESydney is a purpose-led organisation that takes proactive steps to reduce its negative footprint. Our working committee – BEGreen – comprises staff from across the business, who identify, recommend and action internally focussed measures that the organisation can take to improve environmental sustainability.

Our sustainability agenda

We commit to being responsible custodians of our destination, and for the future:

• We will reduce emissions following our Emissions Reduction Strategy.
• We will continue to actively work with City of Sydney to contribute to its Sustainable Sydney 2030 vision.
• We will continue to focus on how we can work with our partners to showcase Sydney’s sustainability attributes.
• We will increasingly consider sustainability criteria in our internal purchasing processes.
• We will build our organisation’s sustainability capability, including through job descriptions and development plans.
• We will continue to actively engage in collaborative opportunities to raise awareness and profile sustainability as fundamental to thriving destinations that contribute to the greater good.
• We will implement a social impact framework against which we can measure our contribution to the SDGs.
• We will continue to actively seek ways to mitigate our negative environmental impact and create
  positive social impact.

Lyn Lewis-Smith - CEO
Sonya Stewart - COO
Kristian Nicholls - Executive manager Client Engagement
Carolin Lenehan - General Manager, Creative, Content and Corporate Affairs

Approved by: Lyn Lewis-Smith CEO
Date: 31/03/23
Next revision date: 31/03/24