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Tuesday, 10 September 2013 00:28 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The CarbonNeutral Certification which is presented by The Carbon Consulting Company adds a unique angle from a hospitality perspective to this award winning hotel as well as its restaurant Nuga Gama, which has also collated numerous accolades including a Presidential Award for ‘The Best Host Hotel – Culture’. The certification was further endorsed by 2007 Nobel Co-Laureate, Climatologist and Vice Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Professor Mohan Munasinghe.
Cinnamon Grand’s General Manager Rohan Karr, on receiving the certification said: “Cinnamon Grand has always been aware of its environmental responsibility and has consistently implemented ‘green’ initiatives that impact the larger environment and community within which it functions. By achieving the first CarbonNeutral venue accreditation in Asia, we are ideally positioned to give customers what they want in terms of being environmentally responsible and to meet event organisers’ and corporates’ requirements for a green and sustainable space in Sri Lanka.
He added: “As Colombo’s largest five star property, Cinnamon Grand prioritises offering the best of luxury and indulgence to its guests, while taking proactive measures to mitigate negative impacts on the world around us, so that whatever we do and whatever we offer, doesn’t cost the earth.”
Professor Mohan Munasinghe speaking on the certification said: “The Certification of Nuga Gama as Asia’s first CarbonNeutral venue is a landmark achievement for the Sri Lankan tourism industry and The Carbon Consulting Company is proud to partner the Cinnamon Grand in this great undertaking. The achievement of this significant green milestone is yet another indication of the Cinnamon Grand’s continuous commitment to push the boundaries of sustainability practices in the local hospitality industry.
“With an increasing number of environmentally conscious global travellers seeking to minimise their travel carbon footprint, the tourism industry has an opportunity to make a significant contribution towards the reduction of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. It is great to see a Sri Lankan hotel taking the lead in creating a carbon neutral facility.”
Cinnamon Grand is already in pursuance of its journey to achieve a vision of reducing its carbon footprint by an ambitious 10% annually and to be the greenest five star city hotels in Sri Lanka by 2015. Gaining CarbonNeutral certification is another imperative step in maintaining the green ethos that the hotel considers a fundamental foundation to its green journey.
For this flagship hotel coming under the expansive umbrella of blue chip conglomerate John Keells, following the ‘green philosophy’ also means ‘walking the talk’ in maintaining the kinetics of a triple bottom line. Hence, to achieve this CarbonNeutral certification, the entirety of carbon emissions from Nuga Gama’s operations were systematically calculated by The Carbon Consulting Company, according to stringent guidelines set by its partner The CarbonNeutral Company, which then purchased the carbon credits needed to completely offset the footprint.
Chief Operating Officer of The Carbon Consulting Company Sanith de S. Wijeyeratne said: “Sustainable travel and tourism is becoming an increasing trend and more advanced tourism markets are increasingly demonstrating an environmental awareness that dictates a minimum ecological impact from their holiday. In this context, minimising a hotel’s carbon footprint will prove to be a very tangible demonstration of its commitment to the environment. Going the extra mile to completely offset the carbon footprint has not been done in the Sri Lankan hospitality context.”
To achieve CarbonNeutral status, Nuga Gama’s greenhouse gas emissions which were completely offset against carbon credits, amounted to the venue’s carbon emissions being quantified as ‘Net Zero,’ which Wijeyeratne opines is the next best to being quantified as ‘Zero Emission’.
“Carbon credits are generated from projects listed on various bodies globally and each credit is equal to the reduction of one ton of CO2 emissions, which means a 10 ton footprint entails the purchase of 10 carbon credits,” he explained.
Nuga Gama has become a catalyst in sustainability initiatives, whether for environmental specialists, the industry, other corporates or even children, who want to learn about rural village life and the eco-friendly practices that are indigenous to rural village life. These environmental practices can be easily emulated in the present day context as demonstrated by the hotel.
General Manager Karr reiterated that the hotel’s green efforts do not stop here. “Reducing energy consumption will continue to be an imperative focus as will be waste management, which is an extremely challenging area in the hospitality industry,” he added.
Cinnamon Grand’s Manager of Marketing Communications and Sustainability Tharika Goonathilake stated: “This ‘first in Asia’ certification is reflective of Cinnamon Grand’s commitment to the environment with sustainability at the heart of everything we do. As a key player in the hospitality industry, five star luxury and indulgence is an offering we afford all our guests. But we do so within the precincts of our green vision, focused on reducing our carbon footprint, conserving energy and being environmentally responsible. We do our best to inculcate an eco-friendly mind set in all our stake holders and this is yet another opportunity where we provide guests with the green option of ‘guilt-free’ consumption, enabling them to indulge, without costing the earth.”
