A conference sustainability initiative

Our conferences are international and the carbon footprint of them is significant. People fly all over the world to be together and we highly value that. But it comes at a cost to our environment. To address this, ACM SIGSOFT has embarked on an exciting new initiative — conference sustainability. This initiative involves three major thrusts:

1. an attempt to locate a conference in a “green” venue and to offer virtual options so that some attendees can avoid travel. While many of us do not love virtual attendance, it is an important part of the puzzle not just for sustainability but also to support diversity, equity, and inclusiveness.
2. an attempt to minimize waste at the conference itself. This means things like not using single-use plastics, not offering water bottles during breaks/lunches, offering less meat (and, in particular, less beef) and more vegetarian options to attendees.
3. by far the biggest carbon impact of a conference — 95% or so — is the travel from all around the world to the conference location. Our goal is to offset the carbon impact of all of that travel, whether by air, train, bus, taxi, or private vehicle. A good way to accomplish that is by planting trees. We are already doing this for ICSE 2025 and the cost is just $10 (USD) per attendee. And $10 per attendee is less than the cost of a coffee break in most conference venues and that money can be saved (and more) by getting rid of single use plastic water bottles, cans of soda, and serving less meat.

This initiative does not have to cost us anything. We can afford to do this and it is time to take an ethical stand. It is our shared duty to take care of the planet, in whatever way we can, for now and for future generations.

Rick Kazman

Climate Change Liaison, SIGSOFT

University of Hawaii