ORLANDO — According to the World Economic Forum, the global airline industry expects to fly a record-breaking 9.8 billion passengers in 2026. In 2025, the industry transported its highest volume of cargo to date.
While airlines grow, however, their impact on the environment does too: Air travel is responsible for 2-3% of global CO2 emissions.
As event professionals who travel more than the average person, how can we make sure we are being responsible and not making this problem worse?
Trade Show Executive (TSE) checked in with Bethany Jenkins, Sustainability Manager, Americas, at Informa, to find out — and discover how the organization is changing the sustainability game.
ANDREW: What travel tips would you give to an event professional who wants to become more sustainable?
BETHANY: I’ve had a heavy case of wanderlust since college and travel on business as well, so this is something I think about often.
It’s important to consider about how you get the most from any trip, and travel when it’s worthwhile. Carefully planning your itinerary and method of transport is an important first step.
If rail service is available, go by train, especially in Europe!
For anyone interested in sustainable travel, there are also carbon offset programs that anyone can engage with. Many airlines now have interactive calculator tools built into their booking platforms, so you can quickly determine how many tons of CO2 you are creating with your flight, how much it will cost to purchase carbon offsets and which projects you will be supporting by doing so.
These can deliver real carbon savings as well as a range of other social and environmental co-benefits.
I think the concept of ‘travel consolidation’ is going to become more important to the business traveler and their companies. How can one accomplish more in one place?
This is something at the heart of how Informa creates value for the customers who come to our events, by enabling our customers to achieve multiple objectives at our shows and conferences — saving additional trips, time and money.
ANDREW: How does Informa make sure travel is sustainable?
BETHANY: At Informa, we have a robust travel policy in place which encourages colleagues to think before they travel.
How do they make the most of it? Would digital tools work here? What are the most sustainable options for the trip?
We’ve also been a CarbonNeutral® Company since 2020, which means we reduce our carbon footprint and fund high quality offset projects to compensate for emissions we can’t avoid.
ANDREW: Are there any sustainability strategies at Informa that you would like to share, which could inspire other organizers who want to lessen their impact?
BETHANY: Since 2020, we’ve had our sustainability program FasterForward in place, working to further embed sustainability throughout Informa, making sure that as we grow, we do so sustainably.
We are so proud of all the work our business and colleagues have done in helping us achieve what we have through this.
A particular success has been our award-winning Sustainable Event Fundamentals program, where more than 2,000 event editions have now assessed themselves against a range of criteria from environmental and social responsibility to their impact on travel and the host city.
Event teams tell us that this provides a simple, flexible framework to meet the expectations of a modern trade show audience and boost sustainability.
We’re also seeing a strong demand for our Sustainability Inside program, that adds relevant sustainability content to the show floor and conference content to help our customer markets solve their sustainability challenges.
ANDREW: What has made your sustainability strategies especially effective?
BETHANY: Our team was set up more than a decade ago and we hope we allow our colleagues to be human at work, making a positive difference to the world whilst building great event brands.
We’ve also discovered the success that can come from open sourcing and collaboration. We’re excited to be working with so many other organizers, contractors and other partners to make our whole industry fit for the future.
A great example is the Better Stands initiative, which was conceived by Informa, and where stakeholders from across the international events industry are now transitioning to reusable stands.
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