La Biennale di Venezia is committed to environmental sustainability
La Biennale di Venezia is working concretely towards the crucial goal of fighting climate change, by promoting a more sustainable model for the design, installation and operation of all its events.
An initial result towards this goal was the achievement of the first carbon neutral certification for the 78th Venice International Film Festival in 2021, which made the Venice Film Festival the first one of this stature to obtain certification for neutralising a fundamental component of its own environmental impact.
Since 2021, La Biennale di Venezia has launched a plan to reconsider all of its activities in light of recognized and consolidated principles of environmental sustainability. In 2022 La Biennale obtained the carbon neutrality certification for all the events it held that year. This was made possible by carefully collecting the data on the causes of CO2 emissions generated by the events themselves, and on the adoption of consequent measures. The entire process for achieving, was conducted in compliance with the international standard PAS2060.
For the year 2025, the goal is to obtain the “carbon neutrality” certification in accordance with the new ISO 14068 standard, for all of La Biennale’s scheduled activities: the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, the Theatre, Music and Dance Festivals and, in particular, the 19th International Architecture Exhibition. For all the events, the most important component of the overall carbon footprint involves the mobility of the visitors. In this sense, La Biennale will engage again in 2025 in a communication campaign to raise the awareness of the participating public.
To achieve the goal of neutralising the carbon impact of its events, La Biennale has worked in two directions: to reduce the emissions under its own control, and to offset residual emissions by purchasing certified carbon credits. These credits are generated by international projects, such as renewable energy production in India and Colombia, or biological treatment projects with biogas production in Thailand.
As far as reducing emissions is concerned, La Biennale has integrated the principles of environmental sustainability into every phase of the life cycles of its events, while at the same time raising awareness and involving the public and the suppliers of the goods and services required for the operation of its festivals. The main actions that were taken include:
- using energy from renewable sources;
- reducing the use of materials, and promoting recycling for their end-of-life;
- reusing the exhibition materials and equipment;
- increasing the number of vegetarian options for food service, with a preference for zero-kilometre food products;
- reducing the impact of logistics by optimizing travel routes.
These choices produce instant results and will be reinforced in the future to consolidate their benefits in the long term.