When we think about an “event carbon footprint,” we picture electricity bills, delivery notes, and waste records. We rarely think about the registration form. Yet it holds the key to the most significant category in your footprint.
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Let’s look at the numbers: transport accounts for an average of 79% of an event’s carbon footprint, according to ADEME. Yet the largest source of transport data—the participants themselves—exists nowhere else but with them. No supplier, no invoice will tell you how your 2,000 visitors travelled to the event. The only way to find out is to ask them. And the best time to do so is during registration.
Questions to add to your registration form
The good news: two or three well-designed questions are enough. For participants and visitors, there are two categories of data to collect:
Transport: the planned mode of transport (with a wide range of options: train, car alone, carpooling, public transport, bicycle, plane, etc.), and the distance travelled—or, more simply, the departure city or postcode (the distance can now be calculated automatically directly in Climeet).
Accommodation: for attendees travelling from further away, the number of nights booked, the type of accommodation, and, as a bonus, the distance to the venue.
One golden rule: the more precise the questions, the more reliable the footprint. A binary “car / other” choice will produce a rough estimate; a detailed list of transport modes produces a more representative and reliable footprint.
For trade shows: the exhibitor form
At a trade show, exhibitors account for a significant share of emissions through their stands and logistics. Their registration form should therefore include two additional categories:
Materials and stand: quantity, type of materials, and what happens to the materials after the event (reuse, storage, disposal).
Logistics: quantities delivered, distances travelled, and types of vehicles used.
And don’t forget the internal form for your own teams (staff, volunteers, speakers), covering the same transport and accommodation questions. It is easy to deploy and helps complete the scope of your footprint.
The hidden bonus: raising awareness
Asking about transport mode during registration has a second, less visible but very real effect: when participants declare how they plan to travel, they start thinking about it. This is the perfect opportunity to highlight the alternatives you have put in place immediately after the question: public transport routes, a carpooling platform, shuttles from the train station. The question becomes an invitation.
As a bonus, you can add quantified comparisons. For example: travelling by plane generates 80 times more CO₂e than travelling by train.
One form, two purposes
The classic objection is: “We don’t want to make the registration process more cumbersome just for the carbon footprint.” This disappears when you consider that the data serves two purposes.
Information entered once by the participant can simultaneously support the operational management of the event (capacity planning, shuttle sizing, accommodation bookings) and the carbon footprint assessment. There is no friction between the event operations and CSR teams: everyone works with the same data.
This is exactly what EMS platforms connected to Climeet (Inwink, Eventmaker, Convives, Captag, Lab Event) make possible: participant responses (transport mode, distance from home to the venue, accommodation) are automatically imported into Climeet, with no manual data entry required.
This integration eliminates double-entry errors, ensures consistency between registration data and the carbon footprint assessment, and saves organisers significant time. They can then focus on the eco-design of the event and the participant experience.
Key takeaway
Participant transport data is the most important data point in your footprint, and there is only one moment when you can reliably collect it: registration.
Two or three precise questions in the registration form, ideally connected directly to your measurement tool, and the category that accounts for nearly 80% of your footprint becomes measurable and reliable.
The registration form is no longer just an administrative formality: it is the first tool in a precise, low-carbon event strategy.
💡 Want to go further? Download our Playbook for Low-Carbon Events, a comprehensive guide to measuring, reducing, and managing the impact of your events.
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