A statement from Anna Abdelnoor, CEO & Founder of isla

“From the very beginning, isla has been about the Mission – driving systemic change in the events industry to create a low-carbon, circular sector that thrives within the limits of our planet.

Today, our industry faces more acute intersecting pressures – rising costs, supply chain volatility, shrinking margins, talent shortages, AI-anxiety – all against a backdrop of geopolitical instability. These are not isolated issues; they have deep sustainability implications across the sector. 

Since 2020, the isla community has made real progress. Together, we’ve launched tools like TRACE, our carbon measurement platform, and proseed our best practice framework –  and soon our member-led Materials Library. Members have raised their own standards – from achieving B Corp certification and ISO accreditations to redesigning products and services with sustainability at their core. Operating practices have shifted, and embedding sustainability as a business priority has been normalised, even if not yet fully implemented.

But there is still significant progress to be made and true leadership requires us to take stock and re-adjust strategies to deliver better outcomes. The strategies that worked five years ago are not the strategies we need today.  That’s why 2025 will be the final year of the isla Membership programme, and with it the beginning of a new chapter for isla. 

Our Mission hasn’t changed, nor has our commitment – to lead the work that moves the dial for the sector. In the near term, that means prioritising TRACE – setting the standard for credible measurement, ensuring consistency in reporting, and turning data into actionable insights that guide industry-wide change.

Insights have always been at the heart of our mission. We don’t just report carbon output; we look at the detail of what’s driving it and use that to identify where intervention will have the greatest impact. Just as financial insight is vital to running a healthy business, environmental insight is critical to creating a resilient, future-fit industry. 

Our next chapter is about acting on those insights to deliver impact at scale. We will keep leading, focusing, and mobilising the sector so that every action moves us closer to the transformation our planet needs, and our industry demands.

We are deeply grateful to every member, partner, and supporter who has walked this journey with us so far. Your commitment, ideas, and energy have shaped isla – and they will continue to shape the future we build together.

An action-driven community remains central to how we work. We will continue to honour the connections, collaborations, and peer learning that have shaped our work, and we will open these conversations more widely across the industry. In the months ahead, we’ll invite the sector into consultation to co-design isla’s next phase. Register for our first webinar here.

As true today as it was when we launched; we are in service to the planet and the sector – by the industry, for the industry.”