Convenors: Gerald Dick and Jo Gipps

Background
In response to growing awareness of the human impacts on climate change, and of the need for all organisations to give central consideration to their environmental sustainability, many zoos and related institutions have developed individual Environmental Sustainability Strategies over the last few years, as have Regional and National Zoo Associations, and WAZA.  CBSG has drafted its own Climate Change Movement Handbook, with recommendations, and has been working on a proposal for a joint CBSG/WAZA Carbon Offset Initiative (see 4. below).  The purpose of this working group is further to develop key aspects of this initiative.

Workshop agenda
This workshop will consider past progress in this area (there will be links to substantial amounts of on-line material circulated before the meeting in Orlando), and will consider ways in which our community can increase both the effectiveness of its actions, and how these can be promulgated most widely to our visitors and others.

As well as reviewing the well-rehearsed steps of:
1.    Measure, Audit and Analyse your environmental impact(s)
2.    Stop, Avoid and Reduce wherever possible
3.    Find renewable alternatives,
we shall focus on proposals for:
4.    a WAZA/CBSG Carbon and energy offset scheme

Intended outputs
•    Providing guidance on developing and implementing an institutional Environmental Sustainability Strategy
•    Developing and refining the design of the ‘Zoos and Aquariums for 350’  Carbon Offset initiative, for use by CBSG and WAZA member institutions (to include working up a tender document to send to a selection of Offset Providers).

Briefing Material:

• A page of weblinks to Environmental Sustainability pages on zoo, Regional and National Association, CBSG and WAZA websites is here: click to download (docx)

• CC mindmap (.xls)

Back to 2013 Briefing Book.