Green Key is a leading standard of excellence in the field of sustainable tourism, guiding tourism establishments to do 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 13: "Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts".
What is Goal 13 about?
According to the UN "Climate change presents the single biggest threat to development, and its widespread, unprecedented impacts disproportionately burden the poorest and most vulnerable. Urgent action to combat climate change and minimize its disruptions is integral to the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals". In the link above, you can read about the targets and indicators to Goal 13.
The hospitality industry is one of the most sensitive to climate change, as the tourist experience in most cases depends on steady climate conditions, which for example guarantee snow for winter sports, or pleasant weather in the case of beach holiday destinations. In addition, the increase of extreme weather events such as hurricanes might influence tourists’ decisions and travel patterns, and it might represent a disadvantage for the tourism industry in the affected countries. On the other hand, tourism itself is negatively impacting the climate, mainly by generating greenhouse gas emissions due to travel-related emissions and resource consumption, among others.
How does Green Key help to achieve Goal 13?
Out of all SDG 13 targets, the Green Key criteria focus specifically on raising climate change awareness and on increasing capacity for mitigation and reporting (SDG target 13.2, 13.3).
GHG DATA AND CALCULATION TOOL – As it is the case for other data collected within the framework of the programme, Green Key believes that decision-making at the management level should consider concrete data on the establishment’s sustainability performance and stir strategic planning accordingly. 2022-2025 criteria increasingly stress the importance for certified establishments to calculate their CO2 footprint, and provide them with a free carbon footprint tool (criterion 1.6);
GHG REDUCTION TARGETS – Green Key certified establishments are also encouraged to set concrete targets for the reduction of their GHG emissions (1.7), eventually aiming for carbon neutrality (1.8). Committing to take part in the fight for the climate means that establishments are willing to take responsibility for their actions regarding their environmental footprint. When more and more establishments adhere to this collective effort, others will be pushed to do so too, and to take an active stance in the transition towards sustainability, so that large-scale changes occur across the whole hospitality industry;
CARBON OFFSET SCHEMES – Guests who pick Green Key certified establishments should be given the possibility to compensate for their emissions through carbon schemes (criterion 1.9) that invest funds and donations in projects that contribute to climate change mitigation or adaptation, e.g. tree planting and carbon sequestration. It is worth mentioning that the Foundation for Environmental Education also runs the Global Forest Fund, a tool that helps individuals calculate their carbon footprint of their transportation, and that provides them with the possibility to donate for climate-related projects with an educational component;
ENERGY SAVINGS – Companies around the world are increasingly required to account not only for emissions that are related to their daily operations, but also for those that arise from the whole life cycle of the products or services they make use of. A big share of carbon emissions comes from energy and resource consumption. All certified establishments need to register their energy use at least once a month, identify ways to reduce consumption, and increase efficiency (criteria category 7). Green Key is also partnering up with startups and companies that deal in clean technologies and smart solutions to reduce GHG emissions from water, cleaning, textile, and the energy sector;
SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION – Daily transportation of staff, resources and guests represent an important share of overall emissions the establishments are responsible for, even more so when activities revolve around a travel intensive sector such as the hospitality industry. Green Key asks its certified establishments to promote the use of sustainable transportation and provide it for staff (criteria 13.10, 13.12) and guests (12.2, 12.3), e.g. in the form of bike rentals and eco-friendly motorised vehicles used for daily operations. Charging stations should also be installed to support the transition to less polluting electric vehicles (7.26);
CLIMATE CHANGE AWARENESS – A lot of carbon emissions can be prevented by changing behaviour. Therefore, information about energy savings and emission reduction initiatives of the establishment must be available for guests and they should be encouraged to take part in green activities and become active players in the fight for sustainability (criterion 3.4). Moreover, staff is periodically trained and involved in the environmental initiatives of the certified establishments (criteria 2.1, 2.3).
A document describing Green Key’s overall contribution to all 17 Sustainable Development Goals can be downloaded here.
