Free tool
Event Carbon Footprint Calculator
Estimate the CO₂ emissions of your event from attendee travel, catering, venue and overnight stays, as an order of magnitude based on average trips.
Total carbon footprint
- Travel by car1.08 t CO₂e
- Travel by train0.113 t CO₂e
- Travel by plane2.25 t CO₂e
- Venue and setup0.45 t CO₂e
- Catering0.825 t CO₂e
- CO₂e per person31.5 kg
How it works
Enter the number of attendees, the share arriving by car, by train or bus and by plane, the length of the event in days and whether to include catering and overnight stays. The calculation does not ask where attendees come from: for each mode of travel it uses a fixed value per person, based on the same average trip for everyone (short by car and train, a few hundred kilometres by plane), plus indicative per-person factors for catering, accommodation and the venue. The result, in tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, is an order of magnitude, not a measurement: if your attendees travel far, the real figure can be much higher. When flights or cars weigh heavily, the tool suggests how to reduce the impact.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate the environmental impact of an event?
An event's carbon footprint comes mainly from attendee travel, venue energy, catering and promotional materials, with travel usually the largest item. This calculator estimates travel, catering, overnight stays and the venue with average per-person values; materials are not counted.
How can I make an event more sustainable?
The most effective actions are: choosing a venue reachable by public transport, opting for local, low-impact catering, eliminating single-use plastic, preferring digital materials to printed ones and offsetting the remaining emissions.
How much CO₂ does a 100-person conference produce?
It depends mostly on how attendees travel: a local conference reached by public transport has a far smaller footprint than one where many attendees fly in. Enter your own data in the calculator to get an estimate for your event.
Keep going
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