Hospitality Sector Collectively Pledges Net Zero Ambitions

London, United Kingdom, October 20, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / The Zero Carbon Forum, a non-competitive industry collaboration comprising some of the biggest brands in hospitality, has today launched the first-ever roadmap designed to provide the hospitality industry with guidance on the steps they can take to decarbonise their businesses and set net zero strategies. The Zero Carbon Forum sets out plans in first-ever roadmap for the hospitality sector to reach net zero by 2030 for Scope 1 and 2 and 2040 for Scope 3.

The initiative is being funded by the forum’s 27 members and is backed by UK Hospitality and the British Beer and Pub Association. Business leaders from the hospitality sector, including Pizza Hut Restaurants, Burger King, Revolution Bars Group and Adnams, will attend the event to support the Zero Carbon Forum and help transform the sector and its supply chain to achieve its net zero ambitions. Kate Nicholls, CEO of UK Hospitality, and Emma McClarkin, CEO at the British Beer and Pub Association, will also be in attendance.

Members of the forum worked together to quantify the carbon impact across the hospitality industry and shared all the initiatives they had taken to reduce emissions to help define the pathway to net zero. The resulting publicly accessible roadmap communicates the actions that hospitality companies can take on their journey to net zero.

The roadmap, which outlines current trends, sector emissions hotspots, decarbonisation opportunities and practical steps for setting net zero goals, was developed in the context of the latest climate science, and through extensive consultation with forum members and sustainability experts. The action it calls for is consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C and is feasible for a wide range of businesses across the sector. The ambition is to reach a 90% reduction in operational emissions of 57% – 78% (Scope 1&2) and reductions in supply chain (Scope 3) emissions by 2040.

According to Mark Chapman, CEO and Founder of the Zero Carbon Forum, several forum members have already set ambitious plans for net zero. “However, we need even more companies to sign up to this target date. In the coming months and years, the forum working groups will advance the decarbonisation strategies of individual members, driving decarbonisation across the sector as a whole,” he says.

“As well as longer term commitments, we’re structured and focused on the actions we can take now to reduce our carbon impact. Since launching the forum, we’ve doubled the number of members buying renewable energy. This commitment will deliver carbon savings of 350,000t CO2 per year, the same emissions as 43,750 households. We’ve also launched our overnight energy initiative to optimise operational efficiency, saving operators up to £4,900 and 10t CO2 annually, per outlet.

“With over 60% of our emissions in our supply chains, we know we can have an even bigger impact through our ongoing partnerships, engaging our suppliers and customers to help lower the carbon impact of the food and drink we serve.

“While the climate crisis presents fundamental risks to hospitality, it also highlights an immense opportunity. By working together, we can do better,” says Mark.

Andrew Griffith, the Government’s Net Zero Business Champion, says: “I’m delighted to see this really important sector that is the beating heart of our high street and our economy stepping up to the climate crises despite what I know has been a challenging past 18 months.

“Working together as businesses and harnessing the problem-solving powers used every day will help to make customers happy to help reduce the sectors emissions. The ambition of reaching net zero emissions across Scope 1 and 2 by 2030 and the supply chain impact by 2040 is to be admired from the sector’s leading lights who play such an important part through interacting with customers every day.

“This is a great initiative that helps us build the momentum ahead of COP26 to send a message to world leaders that now is the time to act.”

Says Kate Nicholls, CEO of UK Hospitality: “We are fully committed to decarbonisation and are delighted to have been part of the development of the roadmap. We will be proactively rolling this out to our membership and the wider industry in the coming weeks, months and years – for businesses to make positive changes to the way they operate. The ambition is for hospitality to be at the forefront of the race to net zero.”

“Sustainability is a key priority for our sector as pubs, brewers and their supply chains continue to strive for and reach new heights in reducing their environmental footprint. As a sector that takes sustainability seriously, we are delighted to support the Zero Carbon Forum roadmap launch which helps define the initiatives we can take to reduce our emissions and work towards a net zero, green future,” says Emma McClarkin, CEO of the BBPA.

First published at TravelCommunication.net – Global Travel News