Maldives Promotion House – The Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa recently reinforced its commitment towards sustainability by implementing a comprehensive audit of its Carbon, Energy and Water. A member of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts, the Sheraton Maldives is committed towards the implementation of the group’s overall environmental policy of 30/20 by 20, which calls for a 30% reduction in energy consumption and a 20% reduction in water by the year 2020 ( from a 2008 baseline ).

” As part of one of the leading hospitality companies in the world, our resort is committed towards ensuring that we minimize our impact on the environment” says Ursula Schoefl, General Manager of the Sheraton Maldives. “We are bound to be good stewards of this planet, and hence our resort carried out a comprehensive series of audits of our energy and water consumption as well as of our carbon footprint through our Sustainability Partner – The Carbon Consulting Company Maldives. The insights that were uncovered allowed us to recognize significant opportunities for the potential saving of energy as well as the reduction of the overall consumption of water. These initiatives would very easily work toward helping the resort meet its 30/20 by 20 targets. Needless to say they could also work toward reducing our operating expenses on energy and water.”

The handing over of the resort’s carbon foot- print was formally carried out at the resort in the presence of the CCCM Team and the resort’s senior management team. The accompanying presentations highlighted the key findings and recommendations of the Audit Teams, while helping the team understand the implications of the energy and water audits as well as the carbon audit.

“Eco Tourism is primed to be the fastest growing segment in the worldwide tourism market” says Sanith de S. Wijeyeratne, Chief Operating Officer of the Carbon Consulting Company Maldives. “Increasingly discerning guests want to know that their holiday is not adversely effecting the environment unnecessarily. A carbon footprint audit enables the resort to consolidate their energy, water, waste and other expenses into a single dashboard, thus allowing them to carry out an overall reduction plan to mitigate their emissions and reduce their expenses.

The carbon footprint is increasingly becoming the measure by which an entity’s environmental impact is assessed. The World Travel and Tourism Council and The International Tourism Partnership are jointly implementing a carbon measurement initiative for hotels which will soon become the industry standard. This is an excellent indicator of the importance that the hotel sector is giving carbon emissions. The Sheraton Maldives has now made significant strides towards reaching their goals in terms on environmental sustain- ability, and we are proud to have partnered with them in this effort.

The Carbon Consulting Company Maldives has been created with the purpose of helping organizations reduce their environmental impact and maximize the CSR and marketing opportunities arising from these efforts. The company’s mission is to help corporate leaders and decision makers develop the skill sets and knowledge base that would be required for survival in the dawning era of a low carbon economy.