Assessing the Carbon Footprint of the 15th International Coral Reef Symposium 2022

Please find the comprehensive carbon footprint calculation here, showing that the ICRS 2022 managed to be carbon neutral. 

Green Strategy

We were succesful in implementing the 14th ICRS 2021 VIRTUAL last year as carbon neutral event. Please see here how we achieved this.

This year, we envision to organize the 15th ICRS 2022 IN-PERSON event in Bremen as sustainable and climate-friendly as possible, in the best case also carbon neutral, but this depends on supporters and sponsors.

For both events, we cooperate with local partners in the areas of sustainable management, energy efficiency, renewable energies, and carbon-offsetting.

We thereby follow a two-step strategy:

(1) Minimise waste and local CO2 emissions (energy efficiency, mobility, sustainable catering)
(2) Offset all unavoidable CO2 emissions arising from conference-related activities and travels

Fundament for this strategy is a comprehensible calculation of related CO2 emissions that you will find here by July 8 (closing ceremony) latest for the 15th ICRS 2022 IN-PERSON.

Here you can see a video that explains how we made the 14th ICRS 2021 VIRTUAL carbon neutral and what our Green Strategy for the 15t ICRS 2022 in Bremen is.

    Energy Efficiency

    The Bremen Exhibition & Conference Center has taken measures to achieve a low carbon footprint. Solar panels installed on the roofs of exhibition halls 4 to 7 generate 750,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year providing ca. 25 percent of all of its energy requirements annually. The balance of energy needs are covered exclusively by renewable energies. The entire conference center is illuminated with energy-saving LED lamps and a combined heat and power unit provides heat with reduced CO2 emissions.

    Sustainable Catering

    ICRS 2022 is developing a sustainable model concept for vegetarian conference catering based on regional and seasonal products in collaboration with our partners Energiekonsens and Esscooltur.
    This pioneering project is funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), which supports innovative, exemplary and solution-oriented projects for the protection of the environment.

    Our partner energiekonsens also developed a brochure for sustainable catering that you can find here.

    Mobility

    The Bremen Exhibition & Conference Center is located in the heart of the city and is easily accessible by foot, bicycle, or public transport. A large selection of accommodations, restaurants, and the historic city centre are within walking distance.

    The city centre is only 12 minutes by tram from Bremen Airport. Your registration invoice will function as a ticket for the public transport at arrival, please make sure to have the digital or a printed version with you. The use of public transport during the week of the ICRS 2022 will be free of charge for all participants. Bicycles for hire with online booking are available throughout the city.

     

    Carbon Offsetting

    To offset all unavoidable CO2 emissions, particularly induced by the travel of delegates to Bremen, together with our partner KlimaInvest, we developed a portfolio of remediation projects in the immediate vicinity and/or with a positive impact on local coral reefs. These project all have a high certification standard and linkage to several UN Sustainable Development Goals. In our ICRS 2022 portfolio, we have the following projects:

    1. Dominican Republic - Green Electricity from Wind Energy
    2. Borneo, Indonesia - Protection of Mangroves and Coastal Swamp Forests
    3. Mauritius - Green Electricity Generation from Solar Energy
    4. Aruba - Green Electricity Generation from Wind Energy
    5. India - Green Electricity Generation from Hydropower

    Green Strategy Supporter

    Supporters welcome!

    For the successful implementation of a complete carbon offset, supporters are still needed to cover the associated costs. Please contact us if you are interested in supporting our efforts to make 15th ICRS 2022 a climate-neutral event.

    Contact:
    15th ICRS 2022 Conference Secretariat
    Inae Kim-Frommherz
    Phone: +49-(0)421-218-62945
    Email: icrs2022.office@uni-bremen.de 

    Conference Secretariat

    The secretariat for the ICRS in Bremen was established in September 2016 at the University of Bremen. Since then, the Conference Secretariat has been working according to the sustainability guidelines established by the certification of the University of Bremen according to EU EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme).


    EMAS is a premium management tool developed by the European Commission for companies and other organisations to assess, report and improve their environmental performance. The University of Bremen, German representative for the EU Commission EMAS Award 2019,  is a partner in the HOCH-N sustainability network of higher education institutions in Germany.

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