Dive Brief:
- The American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Hotel Association of Canada now jointly operate Green Key Global, a sustainability certification body for hotels, the organizations announced Tuesday.
- Greek Key Global’s certification criteria are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The certification process requires hotels to undergo an assessment and audit of their performance in energy and water conservation, land use, hazardous and solid waste management and indoor air quality.
- Green Key Global’s certification is designed to “give credibility to sustainability initiatives properties are already undertaking,” while providing guidance for continued improvement. The initiative’s partners include several major hotel companies, which are increasingly looking for ways to showcase their sustainability efforts as consumer demand for environmentally friendly stays grows.
Dive Insight:
Green Key Global’s partners include Accor, Choice Hotels International, Hyatt, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International and others.
AHLA and HAC first announced plans to create a certification in September, when the associations signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture that would own and operate the certification program. The joint venture brings Green Key Global to the U.S., and expands its offerings, after nearly 30 years of operation in Canada.
Denise Naguib, Marriott’s global vice president of sustainability and supplier diversity, said partnering with Green Key Global “will help support our properties in the U.S. and Canada as they pursue a third-party sustainability certification that demonstrates dedication to environmental stewardship.”
Beyond its sustainability certification, Green Key Global also offers a meetings and events program, which certifies a hotel’s meetings and events space is up-to-date with best practices; a carbon neutral events program, which provides guidance on how hotels can offset an event’s carbon footprint; and a green vendors network.
Green Key Global’s expansion to the U.S. builds on AHLA’s Responsible Stay Initiative, launched in 2022. The initiative saw hospitality companies — including Marriott, Choice, Hilton and more — commit to greater sustainability around four pillars: energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction and responsible sourcing.
In the hotel industry, “sustainability has gone mainstream,” Choice Hotels International VP of ESG Megan Brumagim told Hotel Dive in July. Hospitality companies are increasingly releasing annual environmental, social and governance reports.
The rise in sustainable tourism, meanwhile, is driving global hotel investment in 2024, according to JLL. And hotel guests increasingly demand eco-friendly amenities, such as electric vehicle chargers.
Green Key Global isn’t the only hospitality sustainability certification. At the COP28 summit in Dubai in December, the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance and International Finance Corporation announced plans for a new level of EDGE certifications that will add climate resilience and biodiversity considerations to their hotel sustainability index.
