Hotels collaborate on common carbon standards
Green tourism news – by GreenWise staff
30th August 2011
Leading hoteliers are working to develop common standards to calculate and report on the international tourism industry’s carbon emissions with the aim of having the first ones in place by early 2012.
The
Carbon Measurement Working Group (CMWG) has been set up to establish the new common
carbon standards. It is led by the
World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the global body for the $6 trillion (£3.7 billion) travel and
tourism sector, and the
International Tourism Partnership (ITP), which promotes social and environmental responsibility within the industry. Also sitting on the working group are representatives from 12 companies in the international hotel sector, including the Hilton Worldwide, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International and Premier Inn – Whitbread Group.
Green action
Leading international hotel groups have already set carbon reduction targets. However, there currently does not exist a common, uniform method for the measurement, reporting and verification for travel and tourism businesses. In 2010, the WTTC published 'Climate Change: A Joint Approach to Addressing Climate Change’, in which it recommended a number of actions, including setting common carbon standards. It says carbon measurement metrics vary widely across the travel and tourism sector, which has led to a lack of transparency and inconsistencies in approaches. This in turn has lead to confusion for investors and customers.
"Through this initiative the industry is furthering its commitments to corporate and individual consumers by helping them to understand their environmental footprint. A harmonised approach to quantifying and communicating the sustainability of the industry’s products is a firm step towards accomplishing this," said David Scowsill, president and ceo of WTTC.
Phase One of the new methodology is already underway and has had input from Greenview Consulting and has been reviewed by the World Resources Institute, the WWTC said. It aims to have standards available for the 2012 'request’ for proposals season.
Carbon reduction targets
In 2009, the WTTC launched 'Leading the Challenge on Climate Change’, in which leading hotel companies pledged to reduce their carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2035 compared to 2005 levels.
Like this story? Please subscribe to our free weekly e-newsletter at the top of the page for more content like this.
Related links:
