Host a Sustainable MICE Event in Singapore

Transportation accounts for 21% of global carbon emissions and is the largest emitting sector in many developed countries¹. Planning for sustainable events must therefore start even before delegates reach tradeshow floors and meeting venues.

National airline Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its low-cost subsidiary Scoot, which together connect more than 130 destinations around the world², are doing their part to go green. The airlines, both owned by the SIA Group, have pledged to replace 5% of their total fuel requirements with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2030³. This is in line with Singapore’s aim for a 1% sustainable aviation fuel uplift target in 2026, with plans to raise it to 3-5% by 2030⁴.

Resource efficiency and conservation principles are at work throughout Singapore’s Changi Airport⁵. During the day, natural light fills the buildings with the self-adjustable skylights and reflector panels on the roof, while jet diffusers strategically placed around the departure halls help distribute cool air near occupied zones. The Changi Airport Group has also committed to Zero Carbon Growth until 2030, with absolute emissions to be capped at 2018 levels even as their business grows.

Upon leaving the airport, delegates can easily make it to venues and other meetings by utilising Singapore’s reliable and interconnected public transport system. Event planners can make travel via public transport even more seamless and encourage greener travel by providing transport cards to delegates. Through the Singapore MICE Advantage Programme (SMAP), eligible organisers can purchase discounted EZ-Link cards, which can be used on all public buses and trains.

Point-to-point transportation in Singapore is also eco-friendly with ride hailing service Grab enabling passengers to make contributions to solarisation projects when booking rides⁶. For those that require private transport, car-sharing services are widely available throughout the island with providers such as GetGo, BlueSG and Car Club⁷.

Looking forward, Singapore will continue to reduce emissions from transport. By 2030, half of the city's public buses and public taxis will be electric, and by 2040, all the city's public buses will transition off diesel and run on cleaner energy⁸.

According to the 2021 edition of the Singapore Green Building Masterplan, 80% of Singapore's buildings will be certified green by 2030⁹. Event planners are spoilt for choice when with it comes to choosing green MICE venues in Singapore as many have eco-friendly features, allowing businesses to host sustainable events with ease.

Among these venues is Marina Bay Sands (MBS), which between 2012 and 2020 managed to cut its carbon footprint by nearly 50%¹⁰. MBS has long been recognised internationally for its commitment to environmental protection and sustainable event planning. In 2014, guided by its SANDS360° global sustainability strategy, it became the first MICE facility in Southeast Asia to receive the ISO20121 Sustainable Events Management System certification¹¹. It is also the first MICE venue in Asia Pacific to garner LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum Green Building Certification and in 2020, became Singapore's first carbon neutral MICE venue, supporting the city's green energy targets through investments in Renewable Energy Certificates¹².

Singapore serves as a hub for business meetings, many of which often take place over meals. However, the city’s abundance of culinary options presents a challenge for the MICE sector: food waste. Recognising this, Singapore is taking steps to support sustainable catering practices. Singapore is updating legislation to require large commercial and industrial food waste generators such as hotels and developments housing food caterers to segregate their food waste and allocate space for on-site food waste treatment from 2024 onwards¹³. Likewise, MICE venues in the country are providing more options for sustainable catering menus.

Fairmont Singapore and Swissôtel The Stamford are prime examples of MICE event venues that have taken significant steps towards sustainable food preparation and waste management. They recycle food waste using an Eco-Wiz Dry System Model DV1000 machine which can process 100 kg of raw vegetable scraps and peelings daily, with the compost later used as fertiliser in their shared herb garden¹⁴. AI trackers from Lumitics, a Singapore-founded food waste management system start-up, are used to cut avoidable food waste by tracking the amount and type of waste generated, and delivering insights that allow the hotel to optimise production and purchasing. They also launched the industry's first urban aquaponics farm in 2019¹⁵, a 450-square-metre space designed to allow fish and vegetables to grow together in an integrated system and supply vegetables and fresh fish for the two hotels. Event planners can request for catering menus to feature produce from this garden, enabling organisers and delegates to conduct meetings and run their events sustainably.

Paper and plastic make up more than a third of waste generated at events¹⁶, and many event planners in Singapore have adopted one or more of the following sustainable best practices to significantly reduce this type of waste:

• Conduct registrations through digital event ticketing and management applications like Gevme, Jublia and Occam Lab.
• Provide digitised conference materials.
• Implement 'Bring-Your-Own' initiatives for reusable bottles, containers, cutlery or stationery.
• Engage sustainable vendors like Triple Eyelids which upcycles industrial waste into furnishing for event spaces¹⁷ and XCEL Industrial which provides reconditioned wood pallets for event logistics¹⁸.

Singapore MICE venues have also made paper and plastic waste reduction a significant part of their operations. For instance, since 2018, Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has embarked on efforts to progressively phase out single-use plastic straws, water bottles and tableware not just at MICE events but also in all its themed attractions, hotels and dining establishments, saving more than 100 tonnes of plastic every year¹⁹. In 2021, RWS also introduced Eco-MICE packages for sustainable events, which include serving meals in sustainable packaging and providing reusable pens and recycled paper at events. This resulted in a waste to landfill diversion rate of over 30% and enabled recycling across 10 waste streams – including plastic, paper, and horticultural waste. Affirming the integrated resort's ongoing sustainability journey, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council has honoured RWS with its Destination Criteria and Industry Criteria for Hotels certifications.

Many hotels in Singapore have incorporated sustainable practices that go beyond planting a few extra trees on its compounds. Delegates can unwind in these lush spaces equipped with the latest green technologies.

Case in point: the two PARKROYAL COLLECTION properties by the Pan Pacific Hotels Group are testament to how nature can be seamlessly woven into hotel design. PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay is Singapore's first garden-in-a-hotel and is home to one of Southeast Asia's largest indoor atriums that also function as natural air purifiers²⁰. With its solar panels and double-glazed glass ceilings, the hotel reduces energy consumption by an estimated 160,000 kwh a year. Its sister hotel PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering boasts 15,000 square metres of sky-gardens, reflecting pools, waterfalls, planter terraces and cascading vertical greenery²¹. All in all, foliage constitutes more than 200% of the property's total land area - a scale unprecedented in a built-up city centre.

When networking sessions and meetings are done, planners should encourage delegates to explore the unique tourism offerings in Singapore, especially the wide variety of flora and fauna to discover how the country earned its moniker “City in Nature”.

Visitors can take a trip to Pulau Ubin, a small island off the coast of Singapore and a popular getaway for nature lovers due to its wildlife. There, visitors can take part in Amazing Races and kayaking challenges while learning about the rich ecosystem of the island accessible via a 15-minute ferry ride from Changi Point Ferry Terminal. Available tours include the ‘Chek Jawa Guided Tour’ and ‘Kampong Tour at Pulau Ubin’ by NParks, as well as ones organised by private operators including Let’s Go Tour and Bike Around Tour.

Back on the main island, on the north-western corner of Singapore sits Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. Through free guided walks held there every weekend, visitors can get the chance to glimpse resident wildlife like otters and estuarine crocodiles²². Sungei Buloh is also a must-visit for budding ornithologists, as Singapore is part of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, the world’s largest flyway stretching from Alaska to Australia and New Zealand²³.

For those who need a quick respite from the hustle and bustle of the city, the Singapore Botanic Gardens is a stone’s throw away from the Central Business District. Spanning 74 hectares, it is the first and only tropical botanic gardens on the UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list and has something for everyone including an Ethnobotany Garden where visitors can learn about plants used by indigenous cultures in Southeast Asia²⁴. It houses the National Orchid Garden, where visitors can marvel at over 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids of orchids on display including Singapore’s national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim²⁵.

With Singapore planning to add 1,000 hectares of green spaces by 2035, including 130 hectares of new parks by 2026²⁶, visitors can expect even more options to get in touch with nature when they visit in the coming years.