AGF Insider: ROSS PATEL on BEST PRACTICES FOR BEST RESULTS
Welcome to AGF Insider, our insightful series where we bring you monthly interviews with industry experts.
Each month we catch up with an industry leader in the sustainability world to find the current trends and best practices
This month, we catch up with Ross Patel, artivist, advocate and strategist with over 15 years of experience in the music, media, and entertainment industries.
What are the best practices that you are seeing give the best results?
Collective action. Without it we're highly ineffective. With it, we can actualise the futures that we dream of and hope for. Committing to systemic decarbonisation across the board. We're seeing real victories by powering down the old diesel generators and switching to grid energy and battery storage where available, paired with a relentless commitment to design for reuse and material circularity. We're simultaneously imagining and building our new futures, not just trying to solve the pains of our present.
What trends HAVE you seen this year?
It's been brilliant to see the industry mature, shifting from the slightly vague concept of 'carbon neutrality' to creating robust, actionable transition plans such as the 3rd edition of the Show Must Go On report for the UK's outdoor events. Crucially, we're becoming far more alert to, and serious about climate justice, acknowledging that our job is to address not just carbon, but the entire ethical and social impact across our supply chains.
What are the obstacles?
The primary obstacle remains the high up-front capital cost for transformative green infrastructure, such as developing permanent grid connections and transitioning to electric logistics fleets. The UK's commitment to new Sector Transition Plans (STPs), influenced by COP30 where we can see the negotiations unfolding in real time, aim to de-risk these investments by providing the long-term clarity needed for private finance to step in. This strategic policy shift transforms the issue from a prohibitive expense into a bankable, coordinated investment opportunity for the entire industry. Very much looking forward to seeing how this develops.
What’s the next big thing in sustainability in events?
The shift from fragmented efforts to a unified, city-scale, national framework solution. It feels like this is where the real magic can happen. This approach is being brilliantly demonstrated by the UN Accelerator City model, and by the newly announced groundbreaking clean power hub being pioneered in my hometown of Bristol with ACT 1.5 as a legacy piece to the Massive Attack show on The Downs. Similarly, by establishing guidance such as Green Events Code of Practice (GECoP) as a nationally recognised minimum standard, we are giving local authorities the essential policy tool needed to enforce robust sustainability action, meaning the entire UK events landscape will soon be treading the same, lower footprint path.
Keep an eye out for next month's edition of AGF Insider, where we'll bring you more expert perspectives and fresh ideas!
