Hotel operator to offset CO2 footprint of all Paris trips for COP21

Throughout the climate talks which take place from 30 November to 11 December, any guests staying at any hotel in Ile-de-France – spanning more than 12,000 km – will have their carbon footprint offset by AccorHotels’ various environmental programmes.

AccorHotels chief executive Sébastien Bazin said: “COP21 is a key event for all the world’s leaders and for civil society players like us who have long been committed to sustainable development. 

“As a leader in sustainable hospitality present in over 90 countries, the success of COP21 is close to our hearts. This is why AccorHotels has made both a professional pledge to train 200 young people, and an environmental pledge to offset the carbon emissions generated during the conference by all the overnight stays in all the hotels in Ile de France in both our establishments and our rivals’ hotels.  

“This initiative echoes our commitment to fight global warming through our Plant for the Planet reforestation program.”

Planet 21

In 2012, AccorHotels stepped up its environmental commitments with the launch of Planet 21, an initiative fronted by 21 objectives to lower the group’s carbon footprint, notably through local sourcing and better water and waste management.

In the group’s latest AGM, shareholders gave further support to the Plant for the Planet programme, which will see 10 million trees planted by 2021. In just six years, four million trees have been planted and €13m in laundry savings have been generated, half of which is invested in 150 reforestation projects across the world. 

In a bid to reduce waste and energy consumption across the hospitality sector in the UK, the first annual performance benchmark was carried out last year by the Hospitality Carbon Reduction Forum. The benchmark found that energy was the second-highest controllable cost factor, with leading hospitality businesses investing 9% of their annual energy spend in efficiency initiatives.

Ahead of the climate talks in Paris, chief executives of 43 major companies have already pledged to lower their carbon footprint and incorporate climate risks into their business plans, so long as ambitious plans are put in place in Paris.

Matt Mace