2026 will be full of celebrations in the City of Ottawa. As part of the city’s 200th anniversary, many major events have already been announced with more to follow.
These events provide an opportunity to celebrate our culture, share our history, boost our economy, and strengthen our social fabric.
But they often come with an impact –congestion, pollution, and waste generation.
Some may say there’s no way to avoid that impact, but I believe the event sector has an opportunity to lead and inspire on climate action and harness its co-benefits.
Greener events that reduce emissions from waste and transportation can support better air quality, protect our waterways, reduce congestion and noise pollution from personal vehicles, and could help reduce costs of large ticket items like road widenings and landfills.
Ottawa 200 celebrations mean more events in the city, but it doesn’t need to mean more emissions. Instead, it can be a launchpad to the future of greener events.
Inspiring examples show how events can support climate and improve experiences for attendees and city residents. The Paris Olympics took major strides to reducing the impact of the Games in 2024 and leave a legacy with a cleaner Seine and dramatically less smog.
Toronto has seen uptake of its cycling network and bike share system for major concerts, World Series games, and along with Vancouver and Seattle anticipate it will be a major solution for upcoming FIFA World Cup Games. With support from reuse provider Muuse, over 100,000 reusable cups replaced single-use plastic cups at last year’s Coldplay concerts in Toronto. Right here at home, Ottawa Tourism has taken the Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge and in 2025 launched a Responsible Events Guide to support event planners and Bluesfest has a long history of supporting green initiatives from their volunteer Green Team to bike valet parking and transit access with your tickets.
People who organize, host, participate in, and attend events want to be able to host events with reduced impact. I know this from more than a decade working in the event sector seeing unnecessary waste and feeling limited in what I was able to control. I hear this from others in the industry that are feeling the pressures to meet corporate sustainability goals and expectations of event hosts, attendees, and participants. Event organizers attempt to select municipalities or venues based on their ability to provide high-quality sustainable options. This is because they have attendees asking for more bike parking and transit service or zero-waste options.
Artists are now adding “green riders” to their requirements and come together to advocate through organizations like Music Declares Emergency. Athletes are also calling for climate action through Protect Our Winters and Green Sports Day. To keep up in today’s world, events have to be greener.
There is no single blueprint for a greener event. There are many ways that they can be supported – from investments that support broader emissions reduction throughout the community to dedicated funding to make greener options more competitive. But it can’t be an oversight and it can’t be an add-on. It must be an integrated part of event design.
This is why collaboration and inspiration are key. These are the conversations we are making space for at EnviroCentre’s upcoming Connecting the Dots on Greener Eventssymposium. Event decision makers from hosts to venues to city officials are invited to work through these challenges together. It’s an important time for climate and for the event sector to make significant progress on greening events. Ottawa 200 urges us to think about what Ottawa will look like 200 years from now. My hope is that the events hosted this year will help to ensure Ottawa 400 is a city that future residents are proud of.
About the author
Cassie Smith is the Strategic Lead, Transportation at EnviroCentre. Before joining EnviroCentre she organized hundreds of events at Carleton University, Canada Soccer, and Skate Canada.