Pharmacology 2025: Working towards greener conferences

Conferences bring our scientific community together, but they also have an impact on the environment. At the British Pharmacological Society, we’re exploring [IB1] how we can reduce our impact on the planet by offering some new sustainability initiatives at Pharmacology 2025.

Measuring our event footprint

In 2024, we measured the carbon footprint of the event for the first time using TRACE by Isla, a comprehensive assessment tool. Gaining an insight into the carbon footprint of our event has helped us to identify areas for reduction in the future.
We will be measuring our carbon emissions again in 2025 by working with our venues and suppliers to capture data across venue energy, travel and transport, catering and waste. You might have noticed if you’ve registered for Pharmacology 2025 that we asked how many miles you were travelling to attend the event and what mode of transport you were using. We’ll use all this data to form an accurate measurement of the total carbon emissions from our event.
Guided by our findings, we will continue to look at ways to reduce the impact of our event on the planet and have set up a Working Group specifically to evaluate and provide recommendations on changes to the way we run our Annual Meeting, aligning our targets with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Sustainability initiatives at Pharmacology 2025

Sustainability objectives form part of our criteria when selecting suppliers and venues. For Pharmacology 2025 all official conference hotels are Green Tourism certified, which means they've been independently assessed against rigorous environmental standards. We’ve also made changes to our event materials, travel and catering.

Event materials

Our lanyards are made from recycled plastic and our badges are plastic-free. We invite attendees to return their lanyards at the end of the event so we can reuse them. The detailed programme is available on our website and mobile app only, which eliminates the need for printed booklets. Our exhibition supplier works with a graphic recycling scheme, and all the graphics on the BPS stand this year have been recycled from our 2024 event.

Travel

Travel represents one of the largest sources of conference emissions. We're encouraging speakers and staff to use public transport where feasible. You can find detailed information on travelling to and around Belfast on our conference website.
We've also introduced a minibus bursary to help universities bring groups of students and staff to the event without needing to fly. It's a practical solution that makes sustainable travel more accessible for groups.

Catering

Catering is another significant source of emissions at conferences. Our event catering will be free from beef and lamb, with plenty of vegetarian and plant-based options available throughout. We're planning one fully plant-based day at the conference to push our emissions reduction further in this area.
There's a practical benefit beyond emissions too. ICC Belfast partners with The People's Kitchen Belfast, which means any suitable leftover food from our event will be packaged and delivered to people in need across the city.

ICC Belfast and Visit Belfast

We're hosting Pharmacology 2025 at the ICC Belfast. It’s the first conference venue in Ireland to earn Green Meetings Gold certification through Green Tourism. Their commitment is part of a broader city-wide initiative funded by Belfast City Council and implemented by Visit Belfast, aligned with Belfast's Resilience Strategy.
Belfast ranked ninth in the 2024 Global Destinations Sustainability Index. Seventy-five percent of the city region's 4,800 hotel rooms are now Green Tourism accredited, making Belfast one of Ireland's most sustainable tourism destinations.
You can find more information about Belfast’s sustainability initiatives at ICC Belfast and Visit Belfast.

What’s next?

We know there is still more we can do to reduce the impact of our activities on the planet. If you have ideas or feedback, we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch with us at meetings@bps.ac.uk
We’re also looking for a sponsor to help us offset our carbon emissions from Pharmacology 2025. If your organisation is interested in supporting our sustainability goals, please visit our Partner with us page and contact us Abdul.Hayee@bps.ac.uk for more information.

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