Green Key is a leading standard of excellence in the field of sustainable tourism, guiding tourism establishments in doing their part in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN. In our new feature series we will present each of the 17 SDGs and explain their connection to Green Key.
In 2015, the UN member states adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to guide governments, the private sector and civil society in transforming our world into safer, fairer and more livable place.
On this page, you will learn more about Goal 12: "Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns".
What is Goal 12 about?
According to the UN "Achieving Goal 12 requires a strong national framework for sustainable consumption and production that is integrated into national and sectoral plans, sustainable business practices and consumer behaviour, together with adherence to international norms on the management of hazardous chemicals and wastes."
How does Green Key help to achieve Goal 12?
SDG 12 lies at the very core of Green Key’s activities, as it sets its roots deep in societal consumption patterns (SDG target 12.1), as well as the way in which resources are handled throughout their entire lifecycle, from direct use (SDG targets 12.2) to disposal (SDG targets 12.3, 12.5), passing through handling and storing (SDG target 12.5). SDG 12 also addresses the challenges of sustainable tourism specifically, requiring stakeholders that play a role in the hospitality industry to monitor their activities (SDG target 12.b), to report them adequately and be accountable for their actions (SDG target 12.6), as well as to inform the public and share best practices, awareness, and involvement (SDG target 12.8). Green Key helps both tourism establishments and their guests to make more sustainable consumption decisions:
SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT - Green Key demands its certified establishments to meet high standards regarding the management and consumption of resources such as water (criteria section 4), energy (criteria section 7) and food (criteria section 8). Energy (criterion 7.1), water (4.1), waste (6.10), and GHG emission (1.6) data are monitored periodically, to identify vulnerabilities as well as opportunities for continuous improvement.
WASTE MANAGEMENT - Green Key encourages their establishments to keep records of the amount and types of waste they produce (criteria 6.10, 8.6), and to have a waste reduction plan in place for several types of waste including food waste (criteria 6.15 and 8.4 respectively). Certified establishments are furthermore encouraged to compost their organic waste (criterion 6.17). On-site composting contributes to closing loose ends of the establishment’s resource cycles. The production of compost from organic residues enables microorganisms and other decomposers to turn a costly waste flow into a valuable resource, used for example as a fertiliser to sustainably boost crop yield and plant health;
CHEMICAL HANDLING - The environmentally and health-sound management of chemicals as defined in the targets of Goal 12 is also an integral part of Green Key. The programme has a whole category of criteria dealing with the responsible management and reduction of waste (criteria section 6), as well as several requirements dealing with the responsible handling of chemicals (criteria 5.4, 5.8, 5.10, 6.6, 6.7). The objective is to reduce environmental pollution generated by the hospitality industry, in this case particularly by having wastewater effluent treated according to national standards before it is released back into the environment, as well as to save resources and reagents to clean such effluent, by increasing its quality at earlier stages;
LEADING THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITION - Green Key certified establishments are encouraged to act as green ambassadors and take the lead in the transition towards sustainability, for example by encouraging suppliers and third-party operated businesses within their premises to operate according to the principles of sustainability (criteria 13.1, 13.4) and contribute to making production/consumption patterns more eco-friendly;
SUSTAINABLE CONSUMER CHOICES – At the very foundation of Green Key being an eco-label lies the idea that consumers must be enabled to easily make informed decisions when it comes to picking accommodations and other services in the hospitality industry. The effort Green Key is putting in collaboration with its OTA (Online Travel Agencies) partners is meant to provide consumers with an easy and reliable way to differentiate establishments based on their environmental, sustainability and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) performance;
SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING – As SDG target 12.6 points out, it is more and more important for establishments and especially large, transnational chains to provide information on their environmental performance, and either take credit for their efforts or responsibilities for their shortcomings. Green Key is partnering up with international hotel chains operating all over the world and keeps engaging them in the transition to sustainability. Data on energy, water, waste, and carbon emissions are collected on a periodical basis to highlight trends, improvements, or opportunities to increase efficiency, while the programme gives its partners useful data back to include in their sustainability reports.
A document describing Green Key’s overall contribution to all 17 Sustainable Development Goals can be downloaded here.
