The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (SHA) has launched its Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality strategy which provides a framework for hotels to tackle the climate crisis.
The four-stage framework has been devised in collaboration with the hospitality industry and is designed to allow for the different levels of sustainability maturity in the industry. It consists of:
- Starting: Simple environmental actions
- Advancing: Robust environmental actions
- Accelerating: Net zero impacts for the planet
- Leading: Net positive impacts for the planet
Guidelines for the starting and advancing stages have been published with further details of the final two stages to come later in 2022.
Each stage contains four steps to help users get to the next level through measures such as understanding environmental impact, setting objectives, taking action and monitoring progress.
Wolfgang Neumann, chair of SHA, said: “Our Pathway fills the current vacuum of a co-ordinated 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.”
SHA members include Accor Group, Hilton, IHG, Mariott International, Radisson Hotel Group and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
Sebastien Bazin, chairman and CEO, Accor Group, said: “It’s a matter of moving from compensation to contribution. In order to do this, it cannot only be talk. You need a pathway and you need a guide. You need to think together and act together, totally regardless of how big or how small you are. Within this pathway and within this ambition, we are going to make a marker.”
Federico Gonzalez, president and CEO, Radisson, said: “The Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality provides an excellent framework for the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance’s planet work going forward. The hotel industry needs to come together to define a clear and common framework for basic hotel sustainability, in all transparency to the traveller and suitable for hotels just getting started on the journey.”