Meetings and events booked at any Radisson Hotel Group property across its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) portfolio and taking place before the end of March 2022 will have their CO2 emissions double offset free of charge, Radisson has announced.
The ‘Carbon Negative: Planet Positive’ initiative will be available at 400 hotels across the region and has been introduced by the hotel operator to both stimulate the meetings and events sector and to ensure these have a positive impact on the environment.
Under the plan, the carbon footprint of each meeting will be calculated using the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative – a recognised framework from the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance put in place to help hotels calculate their carbon footprint per occupied room or per area of meeting space utilised on a daily basis.
The methodology incorporates all energy used on site such as fuels, natural gas, oil, purchased electricity, mobile fuels and emissions from outsourced operations such as laundry services. The service is free for all hotels to use. The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance was formed in 2012 as a partnership between the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTP) and 23 leading hospitality companies. It was last updated in 2016 following user feedback and research from Cornell University’s Centre for Hospitality Research.
Radisson’s carbon offsetting incentive is an extension of the company’s 100% Carbon Neutral meetings program which has been in place since 2019 and forms part of its group-wide commitment to reduce emissions across the portfolio by 30%. In the two years the global program has been in operation, more than 30,000 tonnes of CO2 have been offset at no cost to clients – the equivalent of taking 6,500 fuel-powered cars off the road.
Radisson Hotel Group Executive Vice President, Global Chief Branding and Commercial Officer, Eric De Neef, said the company was eager to make its mark on reducing emissions, especially as world leaders prepare to meet in Glasgow at the upcoming COP26 climate conference.
“At Radisson Hotel Group, we are constantly reviewing how we as a global business can influence positive climate action, and how we can encourage the hospitality industry to push the boundaries on green meetings and events,” De Neef said.
“We are proud to be pioneering this initiative and trust that meeting organizers around the globe recognise the positive impact they can have on the environment as face-to-face meetings increase.”
Offsets funded by Radisson will be contributed to a variety of global projects recognised as Gold Standard or Verified Carbon Standard, designed to combat climate change through the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. These include a clean cooking and safe water program in Kenya, wind farm and green electricity projects in Turkey, India and the U.S., a reforestation program in Peru and a biogas initiative in China.