COLBOURNE COLLEGE PRESENTED BY SADEKE SMITH SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Environmental Management Systems in the Tourism Sector Green Globe Certification

Environmental Management Systems

An EMS is defined as a comprehensive organizational approach designed to achieve environmental care in all aspects of operations. The World Travel and Tourism Council's GREEN GLOBE international certification has developed an EMS standard specifically for the travel and tourism industry. There is a growing demand to have an EMS that meets international standards such as ISO and GREEN GLOBE.

Components of an EMS The principal components of an EMS, as defined by GREEN GLOBE, include the following: an environmental policy that clearly communicates the organization's commitment to maintaining the social, cultural and physical environment; an action plan to guide the property's actions and expenditure of resources; the implementation or operations of the EMS that encompasses all of the property's actions relative to the environment, including awareness and training, staff procedures, incentive programs, and community outreach among other things;

Components of an EMS contd. corrective action or monitoring to ensure that the EMS performs as expected, allowing for responsive actions to capture things such as leaking toilets and chemical spills and review, typically by senior management, to determined how to improve the EMS and the level of compliance with the hotel's environmental policy.

Steps in the Environmental Systems Program First, an assessment is done to determine what improvements can be made, how much they cost, and what types of changes in consumption or waste generation can be expected. The assessment also allows you to establish a baseline against which change can be measured. Next, the hotel sets objectives such as to reduce water consumption for the entire property by 10%. Each objective is supported by a set of specific targets, such as introduce towel and linen reuse program by June 31st, or install low-flow showerheads in guest rooms and staff locker rooms by August 1st.

Steps in the Environmental Systems Program contd. The individuals, or departments, responsible for achieving the targets are identified in an action plan. It is important to remember that the greatest improvements are made through changes in staff procedures. Finally, the impact or results, in terms of changes from the baseline, must be measured and documented. This provides the necessary feedback to determine whether the EMS is working.

Green Globe Green Globe is the only globally recognized brand that assures commitment to improved environmental and social outcomes for a more sustainable travel and tourism industry.

Green Globe contd. Green Globe is the worldwide benchmarking and certification program for the travel and tourism industry.

Green Globe’s Standards The Green Globe Standards underpin the Green Globe Program. They provide participants with a framework to benchmark their environmental and social performance in order to measure and monitor performance. The Standards are the basis for achieving Certification.

Green Globe’s Standards contd. Company Standard The Green Globe Company Standard facilitates responsible and sustainable environmental and social activity; and improved environmental and social outcomes for travel and tourism operations. Community/Destination Standard The principal objective of the Green Globe Community / Destination Standard is to facilitate responsible and sustainable environmental and social outcomes for Communities.

Green Globe’s Standards contd. International Ecotourism Standard The Green Globe International Ecotourism Standard assists operators of ecotourism products to: Protect and conserve natural and cultural heritage. Respect social and community values, contribute to an improved environment and improved ecotourism experiences. Achieve better business through meeting responsible ecotourism performance standards.

Green Globe’s Standards contd. Precinct Planning and Design Standard The Green Globe Precinct Planning and Design Standard (PPDS) provides guidelines and tools to address the Key Performance Areas of water and energy conservation, waste reduction, social inclusion and economic sustainability. The PPDS incorporates EarthCheck Benchmarking Indicators to help measure development issues and reward developers (at the master planning and early development delivery phase) who wish to raise their ecological performance and profile.

Benefits of Green Globe (an EMS) To Companies Adherence to Corporate Social Responsibility Documented reports on annual performance against Benchmarks and Standards Environmental performance reporting Comparison against industry baseline and best practice levels Improved Triple Bottom Line Reporting

Benefits of Green Globe contd. (an EMS) To Companies contd. Economic gains through cost saving and time savings Development planning support Asset Protection Consistent Customer Satisfaction Competitive Advantage through increased Global exposure Community, Industry and Government acceptance

Benefits of Green Globe contd. (an EMS) To the Environment Reduction in Greenhouse (CO2) emissions Reduction in energy and water consumption and solid waste disposal Natural asset protection Monitoring of Environmental impact Efficient use of natural resources

Benefits of Green Globe contd. (an EMS) To Communities Better management of cross - cultural and social issues Transparent local community development Sustainable and holistic communities

Benefits of Green Globe contd. (an EMS) To Travellers Choice of business with environmental and socially sustainable objectives Assurance that business meet minimum environmental and social standard

Green Globe & CAST Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST) The Caribbean, as a region, leads the world in the number of Green Globe certified properties. Currently there are 57 Certified Properties in the region. Most recently Green Globe hosted their Green Globe International & Caribbean Green Tourism Conference, held at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The Green Globe and Green Tourism Conference host was the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST). CAST has been a formal partner with Green Globe Asia Pacific (GGAP) since October 2003.

CTO Caribbean Tourism Organisation The Caribbean Tourism Organization's main objective is the development of sustainable tourism for the economic and social benefit of Caribbean people. The CTO provides to and through its public and private sector members, the services and information to accomplish this goal.

Reference OECS, UWI, USAID (1994). Senior Executive Seminar Series on Natural Resource Management and Sustainable Development. Summary of Proceedings, OECS Secretariat, St.Lucia. Carney, D. (ed) (1998). Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: What Contribution can we make? DFID. London ( (