Five hospitality industry leaders have added their weight to the Zero Carbon Forum, becoming the latest members of the ambitious non-profit whose aim is to radically reduce emissions and achieve net zero in the hospitality industry.
Those who have joined the forum in a show of industry collaboration include IHG Hotels & Resorts, McMullen’s Brewery, Wadworth Brewery, Côte Restaurant Group and Honest Burgers.
A non-profit organisation with 33 of the UK’s leading restaurants, pubs and breweries as members, the Zero Carbon Forum is a collaborative action group dedicated to creating a space to help the hospitality sector achieve net zero emissions, with more speed, efficiency and profit.
The Zero Carbon Forum recently launched its roadmap, designed to provide the hospitality industry with guidance on the steps they can take to decarbonise their businesses and set net zero strategies.
The initiative was funded by the forum’s members and is backed by UK Hospitality and the British Beer and Pub Association. Members of the forum worked together to quantify the carbon impact across the hospitality industry and shared all the initiatives they had taken to reduce emissions to help define the pathway to net zero. The resulting publicly accessible roadmap communicates the actions that hospitality companies can take on their journey to net zero.
Heydon Mizon, Joint MD of McMullen’s, says: “We became a Zero Carbon Forum member to ensure our decarbonisation journey is as effective and efficient as possible by sharing best practice with our hospitality peers. It is a complex challenge, but we have begun, and the path becomes clearer with each step we take towards our zero carbon goal.”
The environmental impact of IHG’s hotels is managed through every stage of the hotel life cycle by a system known as IHG Green Engage™ which tracks the use of energy, carbon and water and the management of waste in its properties, along with the associated costs. The system helps to fulfil the group’s commitments to 2030 as part of their Journey to Tomorrow responsible business plans whilst also supporting hotels in managing their energy costs.
Catherine Dolton, Chief Sustainability Officer and VP Corporate Responsibility at IHG Hotels & Resorts, adds: “We are committed to shaping the future of responsible travel and creating more sustainable guest stays. Fundamental to this vision is the development of crucial strategies and roadmaps to accelerate our journey towards net zero. We recognise the power of collaboration in achieving our goals and, as such, we are proud to work with like-minded partners like the Zero Carbon Forum which shares our passion to drive positive change.”
According to Mark Chapman, CEO and Founder of the Zero Carbon Forum, several forum members have already set ambitious plans for net zero: “However, we need even more companies to sign up to this target date. In the coming months and years, the forum working groups will advance the decarbonisation strategies of individual members, to make net zero happen across the sector as a whole.
“Rapid decarbonisation has to be a focal point for any business and should be the most important way to grow sales, attract new customers, retain staff and reduce costs. It’s going to be challenging between now and 2030 but it is what we need to aim for to reduce, then eliminate our carbon footprint across the industry.
“As the impacts of climate change unfold, the time for talk is over. We’re very pleased that these big names in the hospitality world, driven by highly inspiring and experienced leaders, have thrown their weight behind us on our united mission to reach net zero.”
