LONDON—More than 15,000 hotels around the world have so far adopted the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI) methodology that allows them, for the first time, to calculate and communicate the carbon footprint of hotel stays and meetings in a consistent and transparent way.
This huge achievement is the result of months of hard work by the working group of International Tourism Partnership (ITP), the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and 23 leading global hospitality companies to roll out the methodology to their properties and to communicate the initiative to a wide range of stakeholders—including industry associations, certification bodies and corporate customers.
Version 1.1 of the methodology was issued today, June 5, to mark World Environment Day. This latest version gives greater clarity on reporting emissions and has been streamlined to make it more user-friendly, including easy-reference emissions factor tables.
HCMI, a voluntary and free methodology, has been developed to be robust enough to meet global carbon reporting standards but also practical enough for any hotel to implement, from huge casino hotels to small bed and breakfasts.
Clinton Lauds Industry Efforts
At the recent WTTC Global Summit in Abu Dhabi, Bill Clinton acknowledged the importance of HCMI in his keynote address, stating that the travel industry has already started to take on the environmental agenda and that he was delighted to see the development of HCMI, thanking all companies involved for their collective efforts on it.
“The Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative is a fantastic example of the world’s largest hotels putting their competitive differences to one side to work together in the interests of the industry overall,” said David Scowsill, president & CEO of WTTC. “It is fitting that we mark World Environment Day with the release of the next version and I hope that even more hotels will sign up to use what is rapidly becoming a new industry standard.”
“The industry’s willingness and ability to come together to make sense of the carbon issue, for the benefit of the customer, is a significant achievement and a great example of practical, effective collaboration on a critical environmental concern,” said Stephen Farrant, director of ITP. “With such a high volume of hotels globally now measuring their carbon footprint in a consistent way, and with corporate customers increasingly hungry for this information, this is a great step forward on World Environment Day.”
The Working Group responsible for the creation of HCMI comprises leading international hotel companies such as Accor, Beijing Tourism Group, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Diamond Resorts International, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Hilton Worldwide, Hong Kong & Shanghai Hotels, Hyatt Corp., InterContinental Hotels Group, Jumeirah Group, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Marriott International, Meliá Hotels International, MGM Resorts International, NH Hoteles, Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., Pan Pacific Hotel Group, Premier Inn—Whitbread Group, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, The Red Carnation Hotel Collection, TUI AG, and Wyndham Worldwide.
For additional information, contact info@hotelcarboninitiative.org.
