Koelnmesse has developed an app that, for the first time, enables trade fair visitors to calculate their individual climate footprint for the trip to the event.
The software, called CHEQ, compares the emissions of a consolidated trade fair visit with those that several separate trips to business partners would have caused.
“With CHEQ, we are making the ecological impact of trade fair participation measurable and transparent,” said Christian Glasmacher, Vice President Corporate Development and Sustainability at Koelnmesse.
“The tool provides reliable data that demonstrates the efficiency gains trade fairs yield for both businesses and the climate.”
According to a study by the AUMA – Association of the German Trade Fair Industry, attending a trade fair can replace an average of five business trips to customers, suppliers, and other partners.
For international visitors, the average number of trips rises to eight. The reason: trade fairs allow meetings, discussions, and networking to be efficiently concentrated in one place.
With CHEQ, Koelnmesse is now highlighting this substitution effect and making it individually transparent for each visitor by quantifying the specific carbon savings achieved.
“Travel is the largest climate factor for virtually all major public events. However, B2B trade fairs are unique in also offering this crucial networking and substitution effect, because as a trade fair attendee, I can meet the key players of my industry all in one place. If we want to discuss the climate impact of trade fairs honestly and constructively, we need to consider this positive effect. CHEQ allows us to do just that.”
CHEQ is a web-based tool developed by Koelnmesse that invites trade fair visitors to record their journey to the fair by entering their starting point and chosen mode of transportation.
In a second step, they select from the exhibitor directory the companies they met at the fair and those they would have visited individually otherwise. CHEQ then calculates the carbon footprint of their journey and compares it with the avoided emissions from the individual trips that did not take place.
The result is a concrete and personalised balance sheet showing how many carbon emissions were saved through efficient networking at the trade fair. The use of the app is anonymous and free of charge - no personal data is collected.
After two successful pilot projects at spoga+gafa and Kind + Jugend 2025, CHEQ celebrated its premiere at Anuga 2025. For the first time, the application was available to around 140,000 visitors.
Sustainability is one of the key pillars of Koelnmesse’s corporate strategy. By 2028, Germany’s third-largest trade fair organiser will have switched its energy supply (Scopes 1 and 2) to fully fossil-free technologies – through the use of green electricity, Cologne’s most extensive inner-city photovoltaic system, and its own geothermal energy supply.
At the same time, Koelnmesse has been working with service providers, exhibitors, and visitors to consistently reduce indirect emissions (Scope 3).
In addition to waste reduction and circular economy measures, this includes efforts to promote climate-friendly mobility for exhibitors and visitors. These efforts include expanding the e-charging infrastructure in parking garages and on parking decks directly above the exhibition halls.
Koelnmesse’s smart logistics management system, eSlot, and the award-winning routing app NUNAV drastically reduce unnecessary waiting times, congestion, noise, and emissions during setup and dismantling, as well as during the arrival and departure of exhibitors, suppliers, and visitors.
