Published on : Friday, November 11, 2016
Near-COP21 target reductions in Greenhouse Gas Emissions are among the achievements of the InterContinental Singapore, which has just been awarded EarthCheck Gold Certification after completing independent auditing of their environmental and social practices over a five year period.
InterContinental Singapore, managed by the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), has achieved significant water, electricity and waste to landfill reductions and generated financial savings.
Paul Snyder, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at IHG, says the group’s dedication to addressing environmental concerns—achieved internationally through its highly regarded Green Engage™ program—is reinforced by utilising EarthCheck Certified’s external benchmarking data and independent auditing process.
“Using EarthCheck data to benchmark the environmental performance of our hotels gives us an accurate third-party perspective, to support the great progress made globally by using IHG Green Engage across our entire portfolio,” Mr Snyder said.
EarthCheck Certified is considered one of the most rigorous, science-based independent sustainability programs on the planet, utilising 15 years of consistently measured and accurate tourism industry data segmented by geographical region to give properties an accurate benchmark for their environmental performance.
EarthCheck Founder and CEO Mr Stewart Moore congratulated InterContinental Singapore on its exemplary commitment to sustainable operations and said EarthCheck Certified was proud to be working with many tourism properties within the region.
“The goals and policies of the Singapore government, Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA) are raising the benchmark for the wider region,” Mr Moore said.
Singapore’s INDC for COP21 states it intends to reduce its Emissions Intensity by 36% from 2005 levels by 2030.
Under the EarthCheck Certified program, InterContinental Singapore has already minimised Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 30.7%, with 4,649,804kg CO2 saved, equivalent to taking 1560 cars off the road.
EarthCheck’s externally audited benchmarking process at InterContinental Singapore also identified savings of:
34.9 million megajoules of energy – enough energy to power 1464 houses;
83 million litres of fresh water – enough water to fill 32 Olympic swimming pools; and
500,000 litres of waste saved from landfill – which would have filled 17 shipping containers.
“Corporate responsibility is a key priority for all eight hotels in our estate in Singapore,” said Leanne Harwood, Vice President, Operations, South East Asia and Korea, IHG.
“EarthCheck’s personalised training for employees at the hotels helped raise their awareness of responsible business practices, which were applied to the management and operations of the hotel.
“As one of the world’s leading hotel companies, we understand the impact our business activities have on the environment and receiving this recognition from EarthCheck is testament to the effort we’ve put towards minimising the impact our hotels have on the local environment. This could not have been possible without the continuous commitment and support from our hotel owners, colleagues and partners.
Ms Harwood said IHG would continue to work towards ensuring all hotels in the group’s portfolio achieve greater environmental sustainability in operations.
EarthCheck is a global business advisory group specialising in sustainability and delivering marketing, feasibility and business solutions for destinations and companies. Its flagship product, EarthCheck Certified, is the world’s leading scientific benchmarking and certification program, recognised for its rigorous and independently audited protocol. It has helped clients in more than 70 countries realise over $500 million in operational savings by benchmarking their environmental, social, energy, legal and community performance and the design aspects of hotel buildings and their operations against peers in their sector, region and climate zone.
Founded on the principals of Agenda 21 in 2000, EarthCheck certification complies with the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Greenhouse Gas Protocol, and the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) 14064 range of standards for greenhouse gas accounting.
EarthCheck awards Silver Certification after one year, Gold Certification after five years, Platinum Certification after ten years and Master status after fifteen years of continuous benchmarking.
Source:- PATA
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