Several organizations within the tourism industry have come together to deal with the question of carbon emissions of hotels. The objectives are, firstly, to create methods for measuring carbon emissions and secondly, to severely reduce them.
The main problem with tackling carbon emissions in hotels around the world right now is not with the carbon emissions themselves, yet with the actual measuring of them. There are currently no standard methods for measuring carbon emissions and hotels tend to produce figures, which can be misleading.
They may not be totally honest and they tend to measure in different units, making it almost impossible to create fair and objective statistics. Once there is a common method for reduction, measurement, reporting and damage then progress can be made. The situation is about to change.
The Carbon Measurement Working Group that is comprised of mambers from the World Travel and Tourism Council and International Tourism Partnership, is the main organization involved in this new project. The goals are to promote social and environmental responsibility within the tourism industry with carbon emissions being at the forefront of the projects in the next few decades. Representatives from 12 leading hotel chains have joined to combat the degree of guilt the tourism industry has on its mind in terms of the environment.
Certain hotels have pledged to reduce their carbon emissions by 50% in 2035 compared to 2005. This is an important promise to make yet shows the measures by which hotels now take this matter seriously. Whether this pledge is fulfilled will very much depend upon the establishment of the criteria for carbon emission measurement, the honesty of those being measured and the togetherness of the organizations taking part in this massive project.