Green Key International

Green Key is an international voluntary eco-label for tourism facilities that promotes sustainable tourism.It aims to contribute to the prevention of climate change by awarding and advocating facilities with positive environmental initiatives. Green Key is a non-governmental, non-profit, independent programme. It is recognised and supported by the World Tourism Organization and UNEP. Green Key is the largest global eco-label for accommodation and has a national administration centre in each participating country.

Green Key has awarded more than 2,400 hotels and other sites in 53 countries worldwide with their eco-label.

Aims

Green Key aims to

Increase the use of environmentally friendly and sustainable methods of operation and technology in the establishments and thereby reduce the overall use of resources.
Raise awareness and create behavioural changes in guests, staff and suppliers of individual tourism establishments.
Increase the use of environmentally friendly and sustainable methods and raise awareness to create behavioural changes in the hospitality and tourism industry overall.

History

Green Key began in Denmark in 1994 and was adopted by FEE in 2002 to become its fifth international programme. It has since spread to more than 50 countries and continues to grow in numbers and spread across the world.

Commercial websites, such as Bookdifferent.com, is partnering with Green Key list to entice travelers to book eco friendly hotels.^[1]^[2]

Criteria

Tourism facilities awarded a Green Key adhere to national or international Green Key criteria. The criteria have been designed to be easily understood by tourists, feasible for the tourism industry, and clearly verifiable through control checks.

International criteria reflect the various fields of tourism facilities (hotels, hostels, camp sites, conference and holiday centres, tourist attractions and restaurants) and specialized national criteria reflect each country’s legislation, infrastructure and culture.

The criteria focus on environmental management, technical demands, and initiatives for the involvement of guests, staff and suppliers. Some of the categories covered are: Water, Waste, Energy, Involvement and Awareness of Guests, Environmental Management, Staff Involvement, Use of Chemicals, Open Spaces, and Food and Beverages.

Five pillars

Green Key programme rests on five pillars:

Education of staff, clients and owners towards increased sustainable development and environmental awareness in leisure establishments;
Environmental preservation by the reduction of the environmental impact of each establishment in the world scene
Economical management by the reduction of consumption meaning a reduction of costs;
Marketing strategy by the promotion of the Green Key label and the establishments using the Green Key icon;
Strengthening of the tourism and leisure branch by taking responsibility broader than then their individual establishments.

Partners

Global Forest Fund

FEE, which runs the Green Key Programme, uses a tool to compensate their CO2 emissions from flight travels. The funds are distributed by the programme Learning about Forests (LEAF), which involves children in planting tree activities.

Similar certifications

Green Globe is a similar program offering a certification proces for the hospitality industry.

References

^ "BookDifferent.com Puts Green Hotels Under One Roof". International Business Times. 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
^ "BookDifferent aims to make it easier being green | CNN Travel". Retrieved 2016-11-02.

[1] "BookDifferent.com Puts Green Hotels Under One Roof". International Business Times. 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2016-11-02.

[2] "BookDifferent aims to make it easier being green | CNN Travel". Retrieved 2016-11-02.

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