Historically, hotels in the UAE ranked among the top energy-consuming hotels worldwide. In 2016, for example, Dubai’s five-star hotels consumed up to 225% more energy than those in Europe. However, as the earth heats up and the climate crisis worsens, alongside rising energy costs, the hospitality sector is realising the imperative to turn down energy usage and employ more sustainable operations.
To reach clean energy targets and support the UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategy, the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) recently announced it would hold hotel companies accountable by requiring monthly mandatory energy audits.
Carbon audit to hold hotels to account
It was recently announced that all hotels within Dubai must conduct an energy audit measuring their carbon footprint monthly and submit it to the DET. This includes details about how much energy and water hotels consume and their waste management strategy. The DET has relaunched its Carbon Calculator tool to facilitate this.
Nadia Ibrahim, Director – Consultancy & Sustainability, Farnek Services, Board Director UN Global Compact, and UAE Green Globe Auditor, explained that hotels will have to disclose their consumption of nine carbon emission sources:
- Electricity,
- Water,
- District cooling,
- Liquefied petroleum gas,
- Landfill waste,
- Recycled waste,
- Petrol,
- Diesel and
- Refrigerants.
“This information is collated and analysed to provide industry insights on the sector’s collective carbon footprint. In addition, by formulating a baseline, hotels can understand their comparative energy, water and waste consumption trends and identify cost-saving opportunities,” said Ibrahim.
CB Ramkumar, Vice Chairman Global Sustainable Tourism Council, called the move a “progressive” and “powerful” first step and explained price is no longer a barrier to adopting renewable energy generation. “The tourism industry can now afford to move towards renewable energy options. In fact, this will also result in a reduction of operational costs.”
Accor, a multinational hospitality company, shared that all its hotels have registered to the Dubai Carbon Calculator and will begin logging on consumption data as required. Chief Operating Officer for Premium, Midscale and Economy brands Middle East, Africa & Turkey, Paul Stevens, said: “We have been actively partnering with Dubai Tourism in all their sustainability endeavours and we welcome the new carbon calculator tool as with this new regulatory support, we can only anticipate a faster realisation of the goals.”
Expanding on some of its sustainability efforts, Stevens said through its Net Zero Carbon strategy, it has a long-term commitment to reach net zero globally by 2025, alongside being a member of the “Business Ambition for 1.5C” and “Race to Zero”. The group’s carbon strategy reportedly ensures all its properties have monitored and recorded annual goals. Likewise, it is transitioning to smart green hotels by enhancing technical standards to improve energy efficiency and accelerating the use of renewable energy.
Going beyond compliance
Decarbonisation is now a commercial imperative. Further, an international study by Sustainable Hospitality Alliance revealed the industry must cut emissions by 66% per room by 2030 and 90% per room by 2050 to help prevent irreversible climate change. It has just seven years to meet that first criterion.
Exploring how the industry can begin to enact change, Ibrahim said: “The industry should commit to accelerating progress towards low carbon tourism development and the contribution of the sector to international climate goals. The action should be oriented towards:
- Strengthening the measurement and disclosure of CO2 emissions due to tourism activities,
- Accelerating its decarbonisation efforts by reducing water and energy consumption and reducing, reusing and recycling waste,
- Investing in low and renewable sources of energy and products,
- Engaging with suppliers to become more sustainable,
- Developing carbon offset programmes.”
Of course, meeting emissions and sustainability targets is just the first step toward real change. To truly have a positive impact on the environment, the industry must go beyond compliance, with sustainability centred at the heart of operations.
This approach is currently at odds with how many people perceive tourism. Speaking about this, Ramkumar said: “The industry is particularly well known for excessive consumption in the name of luxury and hence it is a major contributor towards greenhouse gases. Typically guests in a hotel come with the mindset of excessive consumption as they are not at home, and unfortunately, hotels encourage this indulgence, leading to excessive carbon emissions in the form of fossil fuel energy generators.”
That said, he outlined that in the “new world” which has emerged from the covid pandemic, ethical business approaches have “taken centre stage.” “Consumers expect this,” he said. Adding: “Moving beyond compliance is now seen as the right thing to do, as this will also result in better brand image – something that travellers are gravitating towards.”
And indeed, regenerative tourism is slowly on the rise across the world, an approach which employs ecological principles and circular thinking. Hotels embracing this approach create living green spaces to bolster biodiversity, work with local producers, and set high standards for operating with renewable energy.
The circular hotel, Svart, in Norway, is an example of this in action and sets the template for the industry as the world’s first energy-positive hotel. That said, while this is certainly an example Dubai hotels should follow, Svart classifies itself as an eco-luxury hotel, which is the label many eco-hotels adopt. This luxury label comes with a hefty price tag, and for sustainable tourism to have the effect required, sustainability must be matched with affordability.
Making sustainable tourism a reality
While according to Ibrahim, sustainable tourism is projected to become one of the most popular methods of travel. There is a long way to go to make this kind of tourism the dominant method of travel.
Ibrahim advises detailed assessments of Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions must be undertaken, and once baseline emissions are identified, the next step is to set carbon reduction targets with the aim of achieving net zero “by or before 2050.” She added: “Once the milestone targets have been established, hotels have to develop decarbonisation/carbon reduction plans to reduce total carbon emissions, including reducing energy consumption, utilising renewable energy sources, reducing waste & increase recycling, food waste management, reducing/avoiding single use plastics, adopting circular economic principles in materials management, programmes for sustainable transportation etc.”
Dr Hassam Chaudhry, Associate Professor at Heriot-Watt University Dubai and Director of Studies Representative at the Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction, said the hospitality industry has a “distinct opportunity” to lead sustainability initiatives that encompass all aspects of ESG and integrate them into the foundation of its operations.
Chaudhry explained: “Currently, the tourism and hospitality sectors are significantly increasing their investments into supporting net-zero initiatives and looking at solutions that will have long-term positive effects. However, the real challenge is for the sectors to make their net-zero commitments into tangible progress with measurable outcomes.”
“An evident advantage of performing an energy audit is the potential cost saving that can result from reducing the facility’s day-to-day energy consumption, which could involve measures such as switching to high-efficiency cooling systems, lighting fixtures or installing motion sensors on certain switches. It can reveal larger patterns of inefficiency and waste that need to be corrected for best results.”
As Ramkumar outlines, sustainable business approaches are no more a “nice to have”; they are a “need to have” with consumer demand pushing forward change and the rallying cry to save our planet never louder.