Emma Gala wanted to determine its carbon footprint. The project was driven by a desire to continue genuine and significant actions to minimize environmental impacts. The calculation revealed that the gala’s most significant emissions stemmed from customers’ and visitors’ travel.

Emma Gala is an annual music industry awards event where domestic artists are rewarded based on their releases from the previous year. The producer of the gala is The Finnish National Group of IFPI - IFPI Finland ry, which organized the gala for the 41st time in February 2024. The gala took place at the Espoo Metro Arena.

Emma Gala’s aim to minimize its environmental impacts is evident in even the smallest details of the event. For example, locally produced vegetarian and fish dishes are served, and even the red carpet and the fabrics of the photo backdrop are recycled for reuse. This is why Metro Arena was a natural choice as the venue for the event; Metro Arena has aimed to reduce its emissions, for example, by changing to renewable electricity and district heating. Additionally, the arena is located in Niittykumpu, Espoo, along good public transportation routes, so participants do not need to have a car or taxi to get to the gala.

“We want to consider the environment in all our actions, and above all, we want our actions to have a genuine impact. Not just to do things so that we can talk about them. When we suggested carbon footprint calculation to Metro Arena, they were immediately ready to implement it together”, says Tommi Kyyrä, the assistant manager of Musiikkituottajat IFPI Finland ry and the producer of Emma Gala.

“Decision-makers ask for responsibility, and we want to take real, significant actions. That is why implementing the calculation was also an easy decision. After the calculation, we will know where the biggest emissions come from, and it encourages evaluating our own actions; is there something we could do better?” continues Katariina Järveläinen, the CEO of Metro Arena.

This is how Emma Gala’s calculation was implemented

The carbon footprint calculation considered all pre-event procurements and preparations, emissions generated during the event itself, and post-event emissions, such as dismantling of sets and transportation to the after-party. The calculation was conducted on the OpenCO2.net platform following the ISO 14067 standard, which is used for carbon footprint calculations of products and events. Emission factors for the calculation were selected from OpenCO2.net’s extensive emissions database, which includes over 4,000 up-to-date emission factors.

An estimation of the emissions from the visitors’ travels was made using a survey, where the interviewer collected data via random sampling on how visitors arrived at the gala and from what distance. This helped to refine the calculation of emissions from visitors’ travels.

For the event, OpenCO2net implemented a customized calculator for Emma Gala participants allowing them to estimate emissions generated from their travels to the gala. This aimed to highlight the emissions caused by transportation and also encourage participants to choose low-emission modes of transportation.

The result of the calculation was surprising

Before starting the calculation, Järveläinen and Kyyrä anticipated that the travels of the visitors would have a significant impact on the calculation results, but the outcome still surprised them: the majority of the event’s emissions (59 %) were caused by the travels of visitors and customers.

“We want to next start thinking about how we can reduce the emissions generated from the travels of our visitors”, states Kyyrä. “This would be a great opportunity to collaborate, for example, with public transportation”, continues Järveläinen.

OpenCO2net Oy provides tools and services for carbon footprint calculations. Our calculators and calculations are based on the world’s most widely known standards and a comprehensive emissions database that includes emission factors validated by our experts.