Radisson to offer carbon negative meetings

Radisson Hotel Group has announced it is the first hotel group to make all meetings and events across 400+ hotels in its EMEA portfolio carbon negative. It revealed for every event taking place at its participating hotels, Radisson Hotel Group will offset double the carbon footprint, to ensure that every meeting has a “positive impact” on the environment. It said the programme allows clients to host meetings in a sustainable way by offsetting double the CO2 emissions from meetings and events free of charge to the client, making meetings that take place during this period at participating hotels carbon negative. For each meeting, the carbon footprint is calculated using the HCMI methodology and then offset through projects which are Gold Standard or Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) recognised. These projects combat climate change and contribute to sustainable development in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and include: a clean cooking and safe water program in Kenya, wind farm projects in Turkey, India, and the US to generate green electricity, a forest protection program in Peru to reduce deforestation sustainably, and a biogas project in rural China. The scheme, called Carbon negative, Planet Positive, forms part of the group’s wider Responsible Business program which targets reducing the group’s carbon footprint by 30%, and which aims to set science-based targets. Since the launch of the 100% Carbon Neutral Meetings program, the group has offset over 30,300 tons of CO2 at no cost to its clients, which is the equivalent to removing more than 6,500 fuel driven cars off the road. Eric de Neef, executive VP, global chief branding and commercial officer, said: “The upcoming COP26 conference will see world leaders come together to discuss climate change which needs all our attention. “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.” He added: “We are proud to be pioneering this initiative and trust that meeting organisers around the globe recognise the positive impact they can have on the environment as face-to-face meetings increase.”