ASIA EVENT organisers, venues and destination marketers targeting European clients face a new compliance challenge as tough European Union rules aimed at curbing “greenwashing” come into force, according to meetings industry sustainability specialist Richard Soo.
Speaking at ITB Asia 2026, the managing director and co-founder of MEP Meeting & Exhibition Planners warned that sustainability claims can no longer rely on broad marketing language and increasingly require hard evidence that can withstand regulatory scrutiny.
The timing of Soo’s presentation the event’s MICE Show Asia conference was significant. The EU’s Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, known as Directive (EU) 2024/825, took effect on September 27.
The legislation restricts the use of generic environmental claims unless they are supported by recognised certification and evidence. It applies not only to European companies but also to organisations outside the EU that market products and services to European consumers.
For Asia’s business events operators, the implications reach far beyond marketing brochures. European corporate clients are increasingly expected to provide defensible sustainability data, creating a compliance burden that extends through the supply chain to venues, caterers, logistics providers and event organisers.
In a presentation titled “From Intentions to Proof: A Guide on Making Event Sustainability Measurable and Actionable”, Soo outlined how organisers can respond by collecting sustainability data from suppliers at the start of the planning process, verifying claims and creating reporting systems that can be repeated from event to event.
Soo’s company has spent years adapting to the growing demands of multinational clients.
“In the process of running the business, we’ve learned about all this, and it’s also because we were very much working with corporates like HP, IBM and Nestle. All of them have a lot of guidelines they needed to follow in terms of sustainability, even in those days.”
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Soo said sustainability requirements have evolved from relatively simple measures to detailed reporting obligations.
“Of course, in the beginning, it wasn’t so stringent. There were not a lot of demands. The most things they say is like, ‘no plastic bottles at events’ – but today is very different. So that’s how we learned along the way and have automatically become so entrenched in our practices that before the client even asks we are already carrying things out. But [previously] there was no reporting, that’s why I always say: it’s like a self-declaration that we will do it without being told.”
One consequence of the new regulatory environment is a growing volume of compliance paperwork. Soo argued that event planners can play a role in helping clients navigate that complexity.
Each jurisdiction would have little changes in the overall dynamic. You have all these forms and business people find this huge paperwork a headache with the compliance, etc. What you then offer is a service that eases that headache.”
– Richard Soo, MEP Malaysia-Singapore
Under the EU rules, organisers can no longer market events as “eco-friendly”, “green” or “sustainable” without recognised evidence. Claims of “carbon-neutral” or “net-zero” events based primarily on carbon offsets are also subject to tighter restrictions, while self-created sustainability labels and badges are unlikely to satisfy compliance requirements. Future environmental pledges must be backed by measurable plans and independent verification.
The changes are expected to increase demand for detailed reporting on energy use, waste management, food sourcing and other environmental impacts. Events industry observers say this could favour convention centres, hotels and suppliers that hold internationally recognised certifications such as ISO 20121 or LEED.
For many Asian event businesses, the challenge is no longer whether sustainability matters, but whether they can prove it. As European clients tighten their reporting standards, the ability to provide credible, auditable data may become as important as price, destination appeal or venue capacity.
