A Sustainable MICE, Events and Hospitality Industry Requires A Collective Effort
In a bid to “keep 1.5C alive”, world leaders and delegates at the United Nations Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow ended the conference with a pact to get countries to strengthen their emission-cutting targets for 2030 by the end of next year, and no, not all countries were pleased.
Carbon Neutrality is Pivotal to Mitigate the Global Warming
In the initial seven-page draft, Cop reaffirms the scientific importance to fight climate change, referring to the IPCC report of August which emphasised that we are running out of time to cut emissions and stay within the 1.5C threshold in order to be able to tackle the impact of some extreme weather conditions.
It is, therefore, important that we remember that any action we can take to collectively reduce our Carbon Footprint is pivotal to mitigate the effect of global warming.
In the MICE, Events and Hospitality Industry, carbon neutrality and climate positivity should be the goal, given that the industry is responsible for up to 8% of the global carbon emission. Sustainability is, therefore, the most important story that we should be telling, honestly.
Sustainable Hospitality Through Innovation
Accor understands this, and for over 50 years, through The Planet 21 programme, they have consistently made efforts to prioritise sustainable hospitality through innovation. Hilton are also well on track to cut their environmental impact in half by 2030 through their Travel with Purpose programme.
Two days ago, Radisson Hotel Group, announced that multiple international hotel companies have come together to develop a Basic Sustainability framework, which aims to "deliver a common starting point for hotel sustainability accessible to all hotel actors worldwide". This complements the 3rd November announcement by the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance on the development of a Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality for the planet, which aims to enable every hotel "to improve their impact, whatever their starting point on their sustainability journey".
Time To Join Forces
What is most commendable about these groups is their transparency on the issue of sustainability, where some other companies have been called out for greenwashing.
Encouraging sustainable practices in the MICE, Events and Hospitality industry is easier than it seems. One way for companies to usher in a Net Zero era is through collaborating for a sustainable industry.
Indeed, there has never been a better time to join forces in the fight against our common enemy. The question is, what are you currently doing to achieve Net Positive Hospitality?
Currently, one of the biggest search filters for venues is ‘Sustainability’. Michael Begley, CEO of venuedirectory.com, confirms this in his recent interview with Conference News:
“Matthias Schultze of the German Convention Bureau told us that 63% of meeting planners regarded sustainability as very important or important; Cate Trotter of Insider Trends confirmed that it is the trend that the industry needs to get on board with and focus its efforts on, and multigeneration expert Dr Eliza Filby called it the ‘Mega Trend’.”
Indeed, some companies in the MICE, events and hospitality industry have joined the sustainability crusade by ensuring a reduction in food waste, but a lot more still needs to be done.
Greener Practices
Venues can start getting their house sorted by thoroughly examining all current activities in order to correct any unsustainable behaviour and make room for greener practices. It is not uncommon to find that while some organisations have already begun their sustainability journey, for others, the road to sustainability may be seen as too complex and too costly. Hence, collaborating for sustainability is good practice. Organisations simply need to have a clear vision of their sustainability goal and partner with companies who have a similar vision. A next step would be to get credible sustainability accreditations to reaffirm your organisation’s current sustainable achievements and continuous green activities. Bear in mind that by January 2022, every search on venuedirectory.com will put venues that are accredited by Green Tourism’s Green Meetings, EcoSmart, Green Key and IACC at the top of all venue results provided, both UK and international, while venues with other globally recognised accreditations will be added in the future.
There has never been a better time to have sustainability embedded in your organisational practices. The goal is to see sustainability as a necessary investment to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint and keep 1.5C alive.