Sustainability

We are living amid a climate emergency. Our planet is heating at an unprecedented rate and the impact this is having on humankind, nature and all those with whom we share it is catastrophic. While we don’t yet know the true impact of the climate emergency, we do know that it is incumbent upon us all to do something about it.

In 2022 the board of Copenhagen Pride agreed a four-year strategic plan to lead up to 2026 with sustainability as one of five core components. We set ambitious targets including the sourcing of products closer to home, the removal of all petrol and diesel vehicles from our Parade, and to becoming carbon neutral by the end of the decade.

We have already made some significant achievements.

• Introduction of reusable plastic cups at Copenhagen Pride bars
• Banning hand-outs and promotional give-aways in the Parade and at Pride Square
• Discouraging the use of confetti in the Parade
• Providing free drinking water along the Parade route to minimise plastic bottles
• Banning the use of petrol and diesel generators at Copenhagen Pride
• The Greener Parade was delivered in 2023, a year ahead of schedule, reducing our carbon emissions by 10.1 cubic tonnes
• Cleaning and reusing printed fence-banners
• Washing and re-using volunteer t-shirts to give a three-year life cycle
• Production of support wristbands moved from China to Hungary
• Always using FSC-certified sustainable or recycled paper
• Wherever possible, using greener energy providers for our office and events

There is much further for us to go. During 2023 we worked with our partner Nordic Sustainability to undertake a greenhouse gas audit to really scrutinise where our carbon impact comes from, so that we can then see how we might reduce it. They assessed that our total emissions in the year up to October 2023 our carbon emissions amounted to 167 cubic tonnes approximately two thirds of which came from production and events.

Nordic Sustainability’s audit also highlighted to us that our ambition for carbon-neutrality by 2030, whilst admirable, simply isn’t possible in any meaningful way. It is more credible for us to commit to reducing our emissions by 25% by 2030 and 90% by 2050. During 2024 we will reflect on the guidance from Nordic Sustainability and develop a Sustainability Strategy that will be published towards the end of the year.

If you have any questions about our approach to sustainability, please contact our Head of Secretariat, Steve Taylor, at [email protected].