In order to deal with the issue of sustainable development, the Geneva Convention Bureau has teamed up with the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index), which was introduced in order to help Destinations, Convention Bureaux, Event Planners and Suppliers drive the adoption, promotion and recognition of sustainable practices in their city and the global events industry. 

The GDS-Index is a collaborative project between ECM, ICCA, IMEX and MCI. 

Geneva has a GDS-Index benchmarking score of 53% while the global average is 61%. 

The score for each Benchmarking category is as follows:
• Environmental performance: 67% (global average is 74%)
• Social performance: 71% (global average is 76%)
• Supplier performance: 62% (global average is 63%)
• CVB performance: 37% (global average is 50%)

Greenhouse gas emissions in Geneva are relatively low.
100% of the total energy delivered by SIG comes from either hydraulic dams or renewable energies.
In Geneva, as in the rest of Switzerland, all non-recycled household waste is incinerated. Thus, there are no outdoor waste dumps as in other countries.
Finally, 49% of the city’s solid waste is recycled or composted.

GDS-Index website