How Copenhagen is Forging Impact-driven Events to Inspire People, Business and the Planet!

In an ever-changing world, Copenhagen is setting the tone when it comes to responsible tourism and conscious travelling. Initiatives such as CopenPay, Legacy Lab, and the EarthCheck certification, are raising the city’s standards both locally and globally.

Conscious planning and ESG principles are at the heart of how Copenhagen is designing the future of its tourism and events sector for the greater good and with an eye to local and global sustainable development. The destination offers a favourable environment for events that seek to integrate climate-friendly practices, with initiatives within sustainability, mobility and hospitality. For this reason, the city is a front-runner in the development of sustainable solutions across the board, from pioneering bike infrastructure to climate-smart planning – arguments that led it to special honours such as the third most sustainable destination in the world or the Innovation Award for its ‘CopenPay’ initiative (see below), both awarded by the GDS Movement. Crucial endeavours for an industry seeking to tackle the urgent challenges related to climate change, geopolitical instability, and over-tourism through partnerships for action throughout the supply chain.

Following a cohesive trajectory of many years, in 2024, the city launched its ‘Copenhagen, All Inclusive’ tourism strategy, one of the most ambitious tourism strategies seen to date, to accelerate the sector’s green transition with an ambitious climate roadmap that lays the foundations for carbon neutrality in Copenhagen by 2050. Tourism accounts for nearly 8% of global CO₂ emissions, and with international arrivals predicted to reach 1.8 billion by 2030, critical action is key. ‘Copenhagen, All Inclusive’ has set out to redefine an outdated and passive form of travel into an active and conscious approach through shared responsibility between the industry, stakeholders, and guests/delegates.
 

“Copenhagen has shown tremendous leadership in embedding sustainability into its tourism strategy and operations,” Stewart Moore, CEO and Founder of EarthCheck.

To ensure the success of this strategy, Wonderful Copenhagen has dedicated years to the development and continuous refinement of the pioneering Copenhagen Sustainability Guide that includes pre- and post-planning indicators to help planners reduce their CO₂ footprint and resource consumption, along with long-lasting social impact benchmarks for their events. This interactive guide, developed as a digital pre-emptive tool, calculates and reports CO₂ emissions broken down into six categories – international transport, virtual participation, local transport, accommodation, venue and event design, food and beverages, and indirect mitigation efforts – in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. An efficient and useful method to incorporate the positives and reassess the negatives of trips and the different phases of any given event.
 

A World-Leading Certification and Other Initiatives!

But the cherry on top came with the highest certification for destinations: the EarthCheck Sustainable Destination certification, granted in 2024. Copenhagen’s green efforts have been rewarded by this label, which reinforces the credibility and harmonisation of tourism products and services in systematising, documenting and accelerating the local industry’s transition within a comprehensive and pragmatic agenda. This international recognition, which came about through a close collaboration between the City of Copenhagen and Wonderful Copenhagen, also sheds light to the broader design of the destination’s new tourism strategy by forging a common language and structured approach for cross-sector collaboration with multi-stakeholders in urban development. It also signals one of the most important goals of the National Tourism Strategy, in which all destination management organisations, as well as 70% of accommodation and amusement parks in Denmark, will have to be sustainability certified by 2030.

Through benchmarking, data-based documentation and annual audits, the certification will create an overview of key indicators – such as energy consumption, water use, CO₂ emissions, waste and social conditions – crucial to navigate this sustainable journey. Since 1987, EarthCheck has been helping businesses, communities and governments to deliver sustainable, clean, safe, and prosperous destinations for travellers to visit, live, work and play. As a ‘third-party certification,’ it is subject to a rigorous science-backed, people-focused certification process, providing a framework for destinations to measure, monitor and improve their environmental, social and economic performances. The Copenhagen certification process will be independently verified annually by external auditors, guaranteeing its accreditation and transparency.
 

“In addition to working with sustainable certification of our tourism organisation, individual partners, and now Copenhagen as a destination, we also wish to influence, and guide actual tourism behaviour in a more sustainable direction,” Søren Tegen Pedersen, CEO of Wonderful Copenhagen.

Copenpay 2025: Arrive By Train For A Guided Tour Through A Museum

Among the innovative ideas that Danish officials will be presenting at this audit will certainly be the latest generation of CopenPay, a great case study of how a ‘green action’ incentive can be a game-changer to get consumers to act out of the box and adopt more conscious behaviour. This impact-driven experience economy allows visitors to ‘pay’ for leisure experiences in the city with concrete actions. You can, for instance, enjoy a boat trip, take part in an excursion or get a discount at a museum if you choose to swap your car for a bicycle, help clean up the city or work in an urban garden. The initiative’s resounding success with visitors is now reflected in the nearly 100 attractions in Copenhagen lasting nine weeks (from 17 June until 17 August) – from a simple pilot in 2024 CopenPay was responsible for collecting 29% more tonnes of waste with a 98% approval rating.

Meanwhile, cities and DMOs worldwide have already shown interest in adopting a local version of the initiative, rewarding their visitors for more responsible behaviours. Berlin, Bremen, and Helsinki are creating their own local incentive schemes inspired by CopenPay, which defines the cross-city scope and nature of this project. Probably the biggest perks for business travellers are transport and accommodation. This year, CopenPay rewarded travellers who arrive by train and, once in the city, also encouraged visitors to stay longer. CopenPay 2025 also brought a new surprise, which was the use of CopenPay at congresses. Selected international events were able to test local activities as a pilot element in their social programme. During the 23rd European Symposium on Organic Chemistry, for example, early risers were invited to plogging (pick up + jog) in exchange for a packed breakfast, to help keep the city’s harbourfront clean and tidy.
 

Last but not least, final words for the Copenhagen Legacy Lab that HQ has been following from the start – the ground-breaking project that is ample proof of how a shortlived event can leave lasting transformations in both the organisation and the place where it takes place. Last year, the Lab expanded its legacy framework for congresses to include events, identifying specific legacy opportunities within its systematic approach, and the work does not stop here.

Published by Meeting Media Company, the publisher of Headquarters Magazine (HQ) – a leading international publication based in Brussels, serving the global MICE industry and association community.