Event emissions and measuring a conference’s carbon footprint

Measuring an event’s carbon footprint requires collecting, applying conversion factors, analysing and ultimately reducing emissions

Ever wondered where to start with measuring your carbon footprint? In this podcast, we talk to Faye O’Connor, Vice President of One Carbon World, an NPO that helps you to measure, reduce, and rebalance your greenhouse gas emissions.

They have a particular focus on nature-based carbon removal solutions, which is of great interest to any company in Africa because of the many potential businesses starting right here in our backyard.

“What we do is we try to help organisations, countries, institutions to start and continue on their low-carbon journey or the transition to a sustainable future. That can be everything from measuring their emissions or indeed measuring their removals if they have those; helping them to set targets, including targets through the science-based targets initiative; thinking about their decarbonisation pathways, helping them scope those out; and then handholding them through that journey,” explains O’Connor.

They also offer carbon offsetting through high-quality carbon credits, either building nature-based solutions or co-creating them to generate the credits, and are interested in partnering with African entities on carbon credit projects.

“I’m very mindful that UN Secretary General António Guterres, who’s a great climate warrior, whom I’ve met several times in my past life as a British diplomat. He has said that we should be using all the tools and all the levers at our disposal, and [carbon offsetting] is one tool that is available to us in terms of trying to move climate action forward more swiftly.

“They are also a great means for potentially unlocking private finance for sustainable development, and in that case, of course, if we’re not doing it in Africa, where are we doing it?”

The VUKA Group partnership with One Carbon World

She explains the One Carbon World partnership with the VUKA Group around their Carbon Markets Africa Summit, what it was like working on a sustainability report for COP27 in Egypt and how she hopes event companies come to embrace their responsibility towards the planet regarding their carbon footprint.

O’Connor was also a speaker on a Women-In-Industry panel at Africa’s Green Economy Summit (AGES). “We all know that women are disproportionately affected by climate change, but again, are the real drivers, real agents of change, and nowhere more so than in Africa, I would say.

“So [it’s] really important that we get together and talk about that, celebrate that, but also model that for all the young people in the room,” she explains.

Cover photo:  Faye O’Connor, Vice President of One Carbon World at Africa’s Green Economy Summit 2026.