The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance has unveiled the Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality for the Planet, which seeks to help owners, operators and brands embrace responsible travel.
Many of the hotel industry’s biggest names have endorsed this ambitious project.
Challenging hospitality to go further
The Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality for the Planet, which has just been launched by the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (SHA), challenges the sector to put more back into the natural world than it uses. Billed as a step change for environmental sustainability in the hospitality industry, the vision behind it is to show that every hotel around the world can, and must, aim to make a net positive environmental impact.
A free resource, the pathway includes detailed guidance for owners, operators and brands covering buildings, operations and supply chains – and applies to both single- and multi-property organisations. It also reflects the different levels of sustainability maturity across hospitality by splitting recommendations into four stages: starting (simple environmental actions); advancing (robust environmental actions); accelerating (net zero impacts for the planet); and leading (net positive impacts for the planet).
Creating individualised action plans
Users are encouraged to create individual action plans relevant to their specific location and situation. The pathway addresses a range of key environmental issues for hospitality, including emissions, consumption, water, waste and biodiversity.
Only the first two stages of the pathway launched this month. The SHA, whose members account for 30% of the global hotel industry by room count, said that the final two stages would be unveiled “later in 2022 after further consultation to account for the changing landscape and fully explore the more complex challenges”.
High-profile backers
The ground-breaking initiative has been created in collaboration with the hospitality industry following consultations with environmental and industry experts. Many of the world’s top hoteliers have offered messages of support for the pathway, including Sébastien Bazin, chairman and CEO, Accor Group; Marcus Bernhardt, CEO, Deutsche Hospitality; Chris Nassetta, president and CEO, Hilton Worldwide; Keith Barr, CEO, IHG; Marloes Knippenberg, CEO, Kerten Hospitality; Anthony Capuano, CEO, Marriott International; Federico J González, president and CEO, Radisson Hotel Group; Sonu Shivdasani, CEO and co-founder, Soneva; and Geoffrey A Ballotti, president and CEO, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
Wolfgang M Neumann, chair, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, said: “Our pathway fills the current vacuum of a coordinated and focused strategic plan across the hospitality industry to tackle the urgently needed climate actions. It is a practical tool for any hotel, no matter their starting point, to obtain guidance on how to prioritise and sequence targeted and measurable climate actions.
“The Alliance wants to encourage all hotels to embrace the journey all the way to net positive. We are spearheading the dialogue beyond having ‘zero’ impact and setting a vision for what we can be putting back into the natural world with a lasting ‘positive’ impact on our planet and its people.”
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