Our Travel & Events teamwork to design a creative and unique program for the client and assess to ensure that our sustainability requirements are met.
It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since we unveiled the first-year results of our KoruGreen Commitment. Still, time flies when you’re doing what you’re passionate about – and here at 212F, sustainability is our passion!
For those who might have missed it, KoruGreen is the sustainability pledge across the 212F Group (212F, Incremental, iChoose Prepaid Corporate Visa Gift Cards) to provide our services with net zero carbon emissions by 2030. The first step of this commitment is to provide all our incentive travel programs at net zero, at zero cost, to our clients, which has been happening for the last two years.
The power of incentive travel is providing your customers with aspirational trips to exotic and desirable destinations, creating an emotional connection between the trip, the brand, and the requirements they met to attend. The only way this can happen is by preserving these destinations, which can be difficult when so many of the requirements of these trips emit harmful greenhouse gases.
You can read a more in-depth breakdown of what KoruGreen does to reduce our carbon footprint on the KoruGreen page or through our following annual report, to be released shortly, but here’s a brief breakdown:
Our Travel & Events teamwork to design a creative and unique program for the client and assess to ensure that our sustainability requirements are met.
Using our industry-leading calculator, we measure the impact of travel and event activity across our programs, conferences, and corporate events.
Post-event or travel, the 212F Group will offset 100% of the program’s emissions by investing in sustainable projects via the UN’s Carbon Offset Platform.
The considerations that go into our calculations are:
That doesn’t mean we choose any destination, venue, or event—our team works closely with DMCs to select eco-friendly choices where possible, ensuring that the venue’s spirit and excitement come first.
So, with all of the explaining out of the way, it’s time to move on to the main event – the results of the second year of KoruGreen!
From April 2023 to March 2024, we are proud to announce that through all our incentive travel programs, conferences and corporate events, we have offset 2,645 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) via the group’s sustainability pledge. To put this in perspective, that’s over 2,700 return flights from Auckland to Melbourne!
In our first year, we offset 1,362 tonnes, meaning we’ve nearly doubled our investments from the previous year. While it’s not ideal that our emissions are rising, it means that our commitment to a more sustainable future is resonating with our clients—allowing us to share how powerful the message is!
With eco-friendly transportation, sustainable accommodation options with eco-friendly practices, locally sourced restaurants and catering, and social responsibility programs built around allowing clients and guests to interact with local communities and give back, the power of KoruGreen has allowed us to project our message to a broader audience. These behaviours demonstrate to groups that luxurious and exciting travel incentive programs don’t have to take a hit to protect the environment and our planet.
KoruGreen’s investments went across two significant projects through the United Nations Carbon Offset Platform. The first was a continued investment in a project distributing ONIL stoves to Guatemalan households we donated to last year. ONIL stoves are semi-portable cookstoves that use concentric rings to heat pots directly, almost eliminating any potential emissions.
The second project we invested in was a biomass conservation project in Malawi to reduce carbon monoxide production through unsustainable household appliances.
Unfortunately, developing countries such as Guatemala and Malawi are the ones most affected by the effects of climate change. By providing them with assistance through projects such as these, we can reduce their impact and work to better protect the world in the future.
Obviously, we’re very proud that our work in sustainability can help fund relief projects for developing countries, and it’s a fantastic feeling to be able to more effectively spread our message—but nothing beats the reception that this pledge has received from the loyalty and incentive program industry!
Through 2024, KoruGreen was recognised as a finalist in the 2023/2024 Asia Pacific Loyalty Award’s “Best Sustainable Initiative”, unfortunately losing out to QANTAS’s program. We’re not going to lie—that stung a bit! However, this was quickly made up for by winning the “Excellence in Social Responsibility” award at the Incentive Marketing Association’s IMA Excellence Awards summit!
The IMA Excellence Awards is a highly respected honour, and to have KoruGreen recognised as the best sustainable initiative in the industry on a global stage was an incredible achievement—one that we’re still reeling from!
Moving forward, we plan to expand our sustainability efforts across the group. iChoose Prepaid Cards are now made from 80% recycled plastics, and we have a lot more to do to better protect our environment and planet. But for now, that’s a wrap on the results!
Find out more in-depth results by downloading the report here.
