Offsetting the North East Public Sector Sustainable & Social Value Supplier Event Through the North East Carbon & Nature Marketplace

At Genee, we work with organisations across the North East to turn sustainability ambitions into practical action. As facilitators of this year’s North East Public Sector Sustainable & Social Value Supplier Event, we are proud to bring together public sector organisations, suppliers and sustainability professionals to share knowledge, build partnerships and accelerate progress towards net zero.

This year, the event took another important step forward by partnering with the North East Carbon & Nature Marketplace to offset its carbon footprint through projects that directly benefit the region.

Held at Newcastle Civic Centre, the event welcomed more than 300 delegates, alongside sponsors, exhibitors and speakers from across the public and private sectors. Attendees included NHS Trusts, local authorities, procurement professionals, suppliers, sustainability leads and regional partners, all exploring how organisations can work together to deliver low-carbon, socially responsible supply chains.

As in previous years, the environmental impact of the event was measured using the SmartCarbon platform. However, what made this year particularly significant was the decision not only to calculate the event's carbon footprint, but to ensure that the associated carbon credits supported projects within the North East, helping retain environmental, social and economic value within the region.

A Partnership Approach

The North East Public Sector Sustainable & Social Value Supplier Event has always been built on collaboration. Originally established by Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, it has evolved into a truly regional initiative involving organisations including:

• Newcastle City Council

• Net Zero North East England

• NEPO

• Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria

• SmartCarbon

• Genee

• NHS Trusts from across the region

  
  

This collaborative ethos aligned closely with the aims of the North East Carbon & Nature Marketplace, which creates practical opportunities for organisations to support local carbon reduction and nature recovery projects.

The marketplace enables organisations to invest directly in North East environmental initiatives that support biodiversity enhancement, woodland creation, habitat restoration and carbon reduction. Unlike many offsetting schemes that direct investment elsewhere in the UK or overseas, the marketplace helps keep funding within the region, creating local environmental, social and economic benefits.

Measuring the Event's Carbon Footprint

To offset the event credibly, the first step was understanding its environmental impact with the support and expertise of event partner SmartCarbon.

Using practical event data and recognised carbon reporting methodologies, SmartCarbon calculated the event's carbon footprint by considering factors such as delegate travel, venue energy use, catering, exhibitor attendance and event logistics.

With more than 300 delegates attending from across the public and private sectors, travel-related emissions represented an important element of the assessment. Using the SmartCarbon platform and best available datasets, the footprint was calculated quickly and transparently, providing a realistic picture of the event's emissions while also helping identify opportunities for future reductions.

SmartCarbon already supports organisations across the region to:

• Measure and report emissions

• Develop decarbonisation plans

• Engage supply chains

• Align with net zero goals

  
  

This made the event itself a practical demonstration of many of the themes discussed throughout the day, from carbon measurement and reporting to supplier engagement and collaborative climate action.

Supporting North East Projects

Once the event emissions had been calculated, offsetting through the North East Carbon & Nature Marketplace was intentionally designed to be straightforward and accessible.

Thanks to the support of our sponsors and exhibitors, including our Gold Sponsor, Equans, and more, we were able to offset the event's impact through locally generated carbon credits, demonstrating how collaborative investment can create meaningful environmental benefits.

By purchasing local carbon credits, investment remains within the North East, supporting environmental projects while delivering wider social and biodiversity benefits alongside carbon reduction. This approach helps strengthen regional resilience and supports wider ambitions for a cleaner, greener and fairer North East economy; a theme reflected throughout the event programme each year.

Importantly, the process demonstrated that carbon offsetting can move beyond abstract global schemes and become something that is local, visible and connected to the communities and landscapes organisations operate within.

Making Sustainability Practical

One of the strongest messages throughout the event was that sustainability action should feel achievable and proportionate. Whether organisations are just beginning to measure emissions or are already implementing sophisticated supply chain decarbonisation programmes, practical collaboration remains essential.

As the Northern partner for the nationally recognised Investors in the Environment accreditation scheme, Genee works with organisations of all sizes to measure, manage and reduce their environmental impacts. The approach taken for this event reflects the same principles we promote through the scheme: measure impacts accurately, reduce emissions where possible, and ensure sustainability action delivers benefits for local communities.

Offsetting the event through the North East Carbon & Nature Marketplace highlighted the growing opportunity for organisations across the region to think differently about carbon markets, using them not only to offset emissions but also to support local nature recovery, strengthen partnerships and contribute to regional sustainability ambitions.

Looking Ahead

As sustainability expectations continue to grow across procurement, funding and supply chains, regional collaboration will become increasingly important.

The partnership between the North East Public Sector Sustainable & Social Value Supplier Event, SmartCarbon and the North East Carbon & Nature Marketplace demonstrates how organisations can work together to measure their impact, support local projects and create social value while accelerating practical climate action.

For Genee, this year's event demonstrated that managing environmental impacts can be both practical and locally focused. By working with partners to measure and offset the event's footprint, we were able to turn that impact into an opportunity to support environmental projects across the North East.

We hope this approach encourages more organisations to explore how local carbon and nature markets can complement their wider sustainability strategies, helping deliver meaningful benefits for the North East while progressing towards their own net zero ambitions.