Online CSR Measurement Tool
Through a partnership with
InterContinental Hotels Group, Meeting Professionals International has
developed an online corporate social responsibility tool that planners
can use to benchmark their meetings against the APEX/ASTM Standard
Specifications for Environmentally Sustainable Meetings, Events, Trade
Shows and Conferences. It also evaluates companies' social policies,
community hours donated and other efforts. MPI's CSR/sustainability
tool is free to members; a fee has yet to be set for nonmembers. The
tool is available at
mpiweb.org/Portal/CSR.
Greening the contract
Along with changing your organization's
practices to be more environmentally friendly, your agreements need to
change, too. Joshua L. Grimes, an industry lawyer with offices in
Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., offers the following advice for
adding sustainability requirements to contracts.
What's already in place? Ask the venue to describe its current
sustainability practices and policies so you have a place to start.
Negotiate your needs. Determine what other measures are essential to
comply with your organization's policies. Discuss how you and the venue
can meet those requirements.
Go beyond water bottles. Be specific when detailing what you expect as
far as energy efficiency, waste management, F&B purchasing and more
are concerned. Every detail needs to be spelled out.
Create a special damages clause. In case the venue fails to meet your
sustainability goals, include an environmentally friendly remediation,
such as the purchase of carbon offsets or documentable community
service. Grimes offers the following sample clause:
The Hotel and the Group agree that, should the Hotel fail to adhere to
its environmental obligations as set forth in this Agreement, then the
Group shall be harmed. In that event, the Hotel shall purchase carbon
offsets from a provider designated by the Group, in an amount equal to
the environmental damages caused by the Hotel's breach. In the event
that the Group and the Hotel cannot agree in good faith upon the proper
amount of carbon offsets to purchase, then the Hotel shall engage a
recognized expert approved by the Group to determine the amount of
offsets to be purchased. The cost of the expert shall be borne by the
Hotel.