HSC Guiding Principles on Sustainability

Our sustainable event design is functional, beautiful and built to last. We promote a circular economy mindset among our guests, team, partners and the international events sector.

What we do: Approximately 70% of materials from our previous events are being reused. Structural components for our stages, backdrops, banners, and branded furniture are stored for future use. We’ve eliminated giveaways and merchandise to significantly reduce waste. Our commitment to sustainable design extends to all printing and production practices. We minimize paper usage wherever possible, and when printing is required, we prioritize environmentally responsible materials. For most of our printed products, we selected CoffeeCup Paper, certified by the Blue Angel ecolabel, which consists of 25% upcycled coffee cups and 75% recycled paper. We also use the Pangea typeface, designed by Christoph Koeberlin, which focuses on environmental sustainability by using minimal ink to reduce environmental impact while ensuring clear readability.

Our challenges: Not all participants and stakeholders can be reached through digital channels alone. To engage a diverse civil society into the Hamburg Sustainability Week, we rely on posters and a limited amount of other printed materials. We continue to explore new ways to reduce our environmental footprint while ensuring inclusive and effective outreach.

At the HSC, we aim to build new alliances for sustainability—through our events, project activities, and daily operations.

What we do: Sustainability initiatives at HSC and HSW events are designed to be inclusive and participatory. We aim to connect stakeholders from politics, business, science, and civil society to form action-oriented alliances. For the HSC, we apply strict quality criteria for ensuring diversity—especially across sectors and by including stakeholders from emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). We prioritize inclusion with clear targets for youth, women, and accessible spaces for everyone.

All HSC partners must meet our principles of partnership engagement. Our funding and co-creation partners undergo a due diligence process we developed with the UNDP. We communicate all partnerships transparently. Through our governance structures and participatory formats—such as our Round Tables and the Hamburg Stakeholder Dialogue—we ensure a wide range of voices help shape the agendas for the Hamburg Sustainability Conference and Hamburg Sustainability Week. We make sure that the results and scalable solutions developed for and presented at our events are accessible to the public via live stream, information on our website, and by working with press and media.

We also select our operational partners and suppliers in accordance with public procurement laws and make sustainability a key criterion in the bidding process. We anticipate the cost of high-impact sustainability measures and integrate them into our budget planning.

Our challenges: Global corporates have a significant impact on nature, climate, and society. Corporations with substantial negative impacts may not meet our partnership standards or pass due diligence. Still, we aim to foster collaboration between the private sector, civil society, science, and politics to help large-footprint organizations improve their sustainability practices and achieve global progress. We accept this challenge, addressing the risks of greenwashing while promoting real change at a scale that matches the reach of global cooperations.