Green Energy Champion Sri Lanka 2017 initiative goes Carbon Neutral for 2nd year

Ecological aspects such as climate change and sustainability are some factors that have managed to garner a growing sense of concern in the past number of years. Considering the impact mankind has made to our immediate environment, the concept of sustainable carbon neutral activities has come as a timely source of nullifying the side effects of our carbon footprint. 

From left: Carbon Consulting Company Senior Consultant Nik Bollons and Director/CEO Sanith De S. Wijeyeratne hands over the CarbonNeutral Certification to Deputy Minister of Power and Renewable Energy Sri Lanka Ajith P. Perera and German Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Jörn Rohde, GIZ Country Director for Sri Lanka and Maldives Randa Kourieh-Ranarivelo

So, what does our carbon footprint within the context of event management really mean? Carbon footprint is basically the greenhouse gas emission that is measured in the amount of C02 generated from an event. So, carbon neutral event management works by implementing sustainable and responsible policies that would ensure businesses and relevant conferences and events are conducted in a more environment-friendly manner whilst ensuring cost-savings in the utilising of water, air and land transportation, catering, energy and stationary such as paper and even plastic water bottles that would be used as refreshment for the participants. 

Events of any calibre which involve hosting a large number of crowds are always a stressful and time-consuming endeavour. When it comes to realising how much waste would be involved when it comes to achieving a smooth ride, any event would face a number of shortcomings and wastage issues along the way. Consider this; if an event is held at a distant location such as Hambantota and participants are set to not only arrive from Colombo but from foreign countries as well, imagine the amount of greenhouse emissions that would fall under these circumstances. 

This would initiate not only from the moment the passenger boards a plane if they arrive from another country but also travels via car to the venue and still engage in activities that would require the use of energy such as air-conditioning, electricity wastage from the use of extra lighting, current to power laptops or even phone chargers. The possibilities for the prerequisite to use these sources sound endless. But, embracing the concept of carbon neutral event management would not only make such sustainable events stand out from the rest but will also encourage its participants by presenting them with a sense of social responsibility. 

The Carbon Consulting Company is an institution that conducts strategies which measure, manage, mitigate, maximise and helps in elevating and acknowledging their clients level of recognition amongst its stakeholders. As of current, we have seen a vast number of carbon neutral initiatives having taken place in Sri Lanka and amongst them was the recent launch of the second edition of the Green Energy Champion Sri Lanka 2017 (GEC II) Initiative, unveiled by the German Federal Foreign Office together with the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy of Sri Lanka, and the project implementing partner Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority. 

The aim of the GEC II is to encourage entries for the best ideas involving the use of renewable energy. Winners would receive a reward of Rs. 10 million or ca. EUR 60,000 worth of equipment to carry out their renewable energy idea along with technical expertise for its implementation. 

Applicants were invited to visit www.greenenergychampion.lk and apply by submitting their concepts that improve energy efficiency and/or harness the use of renewable energy to the benefit of the wider community. Entries have been made open for Community based organisations (CBOs), schools, household groups, and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) until 18 August.

Competitions with focus on carbon neutral events such as the GEC II pose the chance to support local communities and thus encourage them to practice a more sustainable approach for their energy requirements in their day to day lives. This event is an example of how important implementation of carbon neutral event management is when it comes to a project of this magnitude.