Advancing Copenhagen Pride’s commitment to climate action

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Copenhagen Pride sought to address its climate impacts, partnering with Nordic Sustainability to establish a comprehensive Greenhouse Gas (GHG) baseline, while developing strategic climate action and communication guidelines. The initiative supported Copenhagen Pride and European Pride organisations in reducing their environmental footprint while advancing effective climate communication.

The brief

Nordic Sustainability collaborated with Copenhagen Pride to evaluate and reduce its environmental impact through a Greenhouse Gas Inventory. This analysis provided a robust baseline to identify and quantify the organisation’s emissions. Building upon the emission hotspots analysis, we created a tailored Climate Action Plan with frameworks to support Copenhagen Pride in limiting its climate footprint.

In addition, we provided recommendations for how Pride communities in the broader European context can effectively mobilise for climate action and communicate about climate change. These recommendations were shared and presented before 200+ Pride organisers, volunteers and partners at the EPOA European Pride Organisers Association conference in Porto, Portugal.

Our approach 

The project was carried out in two phases:

  1. Calculating a Greenhouse Gas Inventory
  2. Designing a Climate Action Plan for European Pride organisations

In the first phase, we conducted a comprehensive GHG inventory, covering all relevant emission categories of scope 1, 2, and 3. The work was based on the GHG Protocol framework, and Nordic Sustainability delivered an analysis of Copenhagen Pride’s climate footprint across the three scopes, accompanied by a methodology document to guide future iterations of the process

In the second phase, we developed a Climate Action Plan for Copenhagen Pride and climate action guidelines tailored to the wider European Pride community based on the GHG Inventory.
We anchored the recommendations with key stakeholders within the European Pride community by facilitating a workshop. The workshop focused on the climate impact of Pride organisations and highlighted practical steps for other European Pride organisations to reduce their climate footprint.

Result

The project resulted in:

  • A comprehensive GHG inventory and a supporting methodology document,  developed and delivered as part of the first project phase.
  • Climate action guidelines, highlighting potential decarbonisation levers for European Pride organisations (informed by GHG hotspots and international standards such as ISO 20121).
  • A guideline for climate communication as part of the climate action plan. This deliverable offered strategies for communicating about climate change in a credible and engaging manner, to mobilise actions within the Pride community.
  • A workshop on climate action and effective climate communication, organised during the Annual General Meeting of the European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA) in Portugal. This event was attended by 200+ participants from different Pride organisations across Europe.

Working with Nordic Sustainability has given Copenhagen Pride the confidence and reassurance to get it right when it comes to addressing our carbon impact and communicating our strategy and objectives. Bringing this to the broader platform of Prides and encouraging them to take action really speaks to the way our movement is at its best when it leads from the front, in this case on climate change.

Steve Taylor

Head of Secretariat, Copenhagen Pride