GREEN IS THE NEW GAME

gamescom goes green: Taking responsibility for climate action together

Environmental protection and climate protection play an important role for the games industry. Whether game developers or publishers, (esports) organizers, educational institutions, or service providers from the games sector: they have all long recognized the urgency of the issue. For this reason, 76 percent of German games companies are already involved in corresponding projects to operate more sustainably and to raise awareness of these issues. This commitment is clearly demonstrated, for example, by the "Playing for the Planet" alliance, an initiative of the global games industry and the United Nations (UN).

The organizers of gamescom, the game – The German Games Industry Association and Koelnmesse, are also aware of their responsibility in climate protection. The clear goal is for gamescom, as the largest games event in the world, to also lead the way in terms of climate protection. The reputation of gamescom is to be used to win over even more people, companies, trade fair and event organizers for concrete measures and climate protection concepts.

We are colorful. And always green.

Green is what we make it.
And that's why gamescom 2022 will be
the most climate-friendly we've ever celebrated.
Find out why and what you can do about it here.

The core event

The core event, with all areas for which Koelnmesse and the game association are responsible, will be climate-neutral via offsetting in cooperation with ClimatePartner . This means that all emissions from these areas have been calculated on the basis of the internationally recognized "Greenhouse Gas Protocol" standard and fully offset by supporting certified carbon offset projects. For example, the following areas are included in the calculation: exhibition center infrastructure, material consumption for event-internal setups, themed areas, own side events, devcom, personnel, mobility, catering, vehicle fleet, websites, etc.

Visitors

Visitors can make a voluntary contribution to climate protection. A green ticket can be purchased in the ticket store or a donation can be made online. These proceeds will benefit the gamescom forest, which was already launched in 2020 and has already grown to almost 20,000m2 near Bayreuth.
-> One click to your donation

Exhibitors

Exhibitors can also make a voluntary climate contribution to offset their CO2 consumption at gamescom (stand construction, travel, accommodation, etc.). In cooperation with ClimatePartner , they are given the opportunity to make a recommended climate contribution, depending on the size of their stand, which supports the certified carbon offset projects selected by gamescom and ClimatePartner .

Ctrl-Forest-Control

Together we are shaping the future. Digital and analog.
With your donation you can support our sustainability
project and our local forest and make gamescom
another level greener.

Planting trees for the climate: Contribute to the gamescom forest

Let the gamescom forest grow: To keep our forest growing we need the active support of the entire gaming community! Support the preservation of our native forests and thus climate protection with your donation. With just a few clicks you can join us, every contribution counts!

What is the gamescom forest?

The gamescom forest, the sustainability project of gamescom: Together with its project partner Treemer , it is rebuilding a climate-resilient mixed forest near Bayreuth . Treemer is known as an expert in reforestation and sustainable forestry. So far, we have already been able to reforest 18,500 m² of forest thanks to the great commitment of the community.

With your commitment you can make your personal contribution to the protection of species, nature and climate and let the gamescom forest continue to grow!

Donate with just one click!

How can you help with this?

Via Germany's largest donation platform betterplace.org you can easily donate starting from an amount of 1 Euro. Every contribution makes a difference!

Our goal is to reforest as much forest area as possible together with you. To achieve this, we have already made our own contribution in the past year and together with your donations have reforested a total of 18,500 m² of climate-stable mixed forest.

The game - The German Games Industry Association is particularly concerned about environmental and climate protection

The association has screened and optimized all of its work processes, so that work in the office has already been climate-neutral since 2019.

Through ClimatePartner , the game association supports climate protection projects such as "Clean Cooking Stoves" in Nyungwe, Rwanda and the "Hydropower" project in Virunga, D.R. Congo. With these two projects, the association offsets its CO2 emissions, which are caused by business operations, employee commutes and business travel, among other things. Other central institutions of the games industry such as the Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body (USK), the Digital Games Culture Foundation, the esports player foundation and devcom are also already climate-neutral.

Since 2021, the game association has also been part of the "Playing for the Planet Alliance", a cooperation between the United Nations and the games industry.

Learn more

Koelnmesse: Climate neutral with all trade fairs and events by 2050

Koelnmesse has set itself the goal of balancing its economic activities with society and the environment. It wants to implement this for its partners and its customers and likewise takes them to task for making their contribution.

In November 2021, Koelnmesse joined the "Net Zero Carbon Events" initiative of the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC), the global organization of the event industry, and thus committed itself to designing its events worldwide in such a way that CO2 emissions are a net zero by the end of 2050 and to reporting on its progress along this path.

Since the event and trade fair industry is very resource-intensive, this will not happen overnight. Nevertheless, Koelnmesse has already set out to implement numerous measures for air pollution control, energy efficiency or resource management in dealing with resources and protecting the environment. These improve both the energy balance of the approximately 80 events in Cologne and that of the company.

Learn more