Sustainability

ANZCA is committed to minimising the health impact of climate change and promoting environmental sustainability and has taken measures to reduce its environmental impact. Learn more about ANZCA’s sustainability initiatives here.

• Washing stations and filtered water stations will be available in the HCI exhibition, making it easier for delegates to use these while onsite to wash keep cups and fill reusable water bottles.
• As part of the college’s commitment to environmental sustainability, we’ve eliminated printed registration brochures, handbooks, and pocket programs from Annual Scientific Meetings (ASMs).
• Promoting the onsite ASM mobile app and our ANZCA online event platform.
• In most cases we use digital signage and where possible single use signage has been eliminated. If printed signage is required, we ensure it is printed on recycled material and can be recycled.
• The ASM 2024 lanyards are made of bamboo which is a renewable resource and eco-friendly product that will break down over time. We’ll have dedicated recycling stations in key areas at the convention centre.

• Make sure you recycle your lanyard! Look at out for the recycling stations.
• Pack, take and use your own keep cup and water bottle to the ASM. Filtered water stations and washing stations will be available throughout the healthcare industry exhibition and on all levels outside the main meeting rooms.
• Where possible, reuse hotel linen, as this will help save water.
• Choose to offset the carbon emissions of your flights. Most airlines offer this for a small fee.
• At time of registration, choose to offset your in-person conference experience. The 2024 ASM will be offset to Greenfleet. Learn more here.

• The Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC) is committed to work practices with sustainable values and environmental and community focused outcomes meeting the requirements of the EarthCheck Company Standard.
• As an official #eatqld partner, BCEC is passionate about the promotion of local and sustainable produce. To learn more about BCEC’s commitment to sustainability and the environment, please visit their website.
• We’ve engaged with ExpoNet to build our healthcare industry exhibition. ExpoNet re-use their entire product, from hire furniture to carpet tiles and system components. Learn more about ExpoNet’s sustainability practices on their website.

We’re offering delegates the option to purchase carbon offset credits to help us reduce our carbon footprint and minimise the impact of our ANZCA Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM).

ANZCA has again partnered with Australia’s first carbon offset provider and environmental not-for-profit, Greenfleet to take climate action and reduce the carbon footprint of the 2024 ASM. Greenfleet plant legally protected biodiverse native trees in Australia, that address critical deforestation and biodiversity loss, protect our climate, reduce soil erosion, improve water quality and restore critical habitat for wildlife.

The event offset with Greenfleet covers the average carbon footprint of a person attending an in-person event. It considers the transport to and from the event, the average utility use, food consumption and waste management for a one-day event. When you offset your emissions, your contribution directly enables Greenfleet’s reforestation projects.

At time of registration, you have the option to contribute an extra:

• $2 – Offset carbon footprint for 1 day of the meeting (FPM Symposium delegates).
• $4 – Offset carbon footprint for 2 days of the meeting.
• $6 – Offset carbon footprint for 3 days of the meeting.
• $8 – Offset carbon footprint for 4 days of the meeting.
• $10 – Offset carbon footprint for 5 days of the meeting.

Greenfleet offsets carbon emissions on behalf of our supporters by planting native, biodiverse forests in Australia and New Zealand. As they grow, these forests remove carbon from the atmosphere, conserve biodiversity and build critical habitat for our wildlife. Greenfleet has been delivering climate action for over 25 years. Since 1997, they have planted more than 10 million native trees across 500 legally protected forests that will remove 4 million tonnes of carbon throughout their lifetime.

You can learn about Greenfleet’s projects and see where they are growing here.

The 2023 ANZCA ASM was held in Sydney and was the first year we gave delegates the opportunity to offset their carbon footprint.

So how did we go?

• 43% of delegates chose to opt-in to this initiative. This was across all options from 1-day to 5-day offset.
• 75 tonnes of CO₂ were offset.

Equivalence:

• 301 tonnes of CO₂ offset is the equivalent of:
  • Taking 70 medium sized cars off the road for a year (4.3T).
  • Offsetting 376 return flights between Melbourne and Sydney (.8T).
  • Covering the carbon footprint of 15 people living in Australia for a whole year (20T).
  • Offsetting 22 average households in Australia (average of 2.53 people which produces 13.7T CO₂-e/year: energy/waste/food).
  • Offsetting 900 delegates over three-day conference (road travel/energy/waste/food: 0.1111T per day).