Sustainability

ESCRS looks to the future—Starting with sustainability now

Starting on Friday during the iNovation Symposium, then the opening ceremony on Saturday, and through to Tuesday, sustainability is a thread woven through the fabric of this year’s Congress.

Indeed, the ESCRS worked for many months to organise a net zero waste and emissions Congress. The ESCRS is committed to calculating, reducing, and offsetting the event’s carbon emissions. It began at the online registration, where members could choose a Gold Standard-certified, carbon-offsetting option. Members also have the opportunity to take the ESCRS Zero Emission Sustainability Pledge to help carry the message home after the meeting. As you enter the registration area at MiCo, you will see a sustainability wall installation.

There will be sessions throughout the conference looking at improving sustainability in all areas of ophthalmology, from manufacturing to the operating room. Panellists will discuss potential ways to eliminate waste, emissions, and pollution, including recycling materials and products and switching to more sustainable materials. You can keep track of these sessions by checking the sustainability track on your online programme.

ESCRS members as well as exhibitors are asked to take steps to reduce our communal carbon footprint. This starts with traveling more sustainably to and from the meeting by taking a train instead of a plane when possible. Next would be to choose a hotel with a Green Globes sustainability rating. During the conference, members can take advantage of healthier and climate-friendlier food and drink options. Conference planners worked to eliminate single-use plastic water bottles in favour of water stations and bespoke reusable bottles. The Congress has also implemented an advanced recycling system.

To make a sustainable congress requires commitment and collective action from participants, exhibitors, sponsors, organisers, and suppliers. Our approach is to engage, inspire, and catalyse collective action to make a zero-impact event. Thank you for helping us to reach these goals.

Practicing sustainability is a learning experience for all of us. A sustainability report identifying effective strategies, best practices, and lessons from Milan will be produced after the Congress and applied to planning next year’s Congress in Vienna and other future ESCRS events—with the goal of creating net zero carbon emission events.