Tackling climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing Scottish tourism now. Consumer concern over the environment and climate has doubled in the last decade and visitors are increasingly seeking out businesses and destinations with excellent green credentials.
Gaining green certification provides a good opportunity to showcase your green credentials as well as managing your sustainability actions.
A certification scheme provides a third-party assessment of your businesses environmental and sustainable practices.
Generally, an assessor will measure your business against the scheme criteria, which can cover a range of sustainability aspects. By meeting those criteria, you gain the certification’s label, which can then be used as an independently verified badge of validation for your business.
Renewed regularly to ensure you are maintaining your sustainability activities, it formalises your current environmental work in a visible and verifiable way to your staff, customers, suppliers and community.
Sustainability certification schemes have a range of benefits. Taking part in a scheme is a great way of reviewing your environmental, social, and economic impact and facilitating action to maximise the positive benefits to your business and wider community and environment.
The independent verification of the actions you take, can provide a robust and credible certification to help promote your sustainability commitment to potential customers, benefitting your business as well as developing a more sustainable destination.
It helps to demonstrate your commitment to the environment and community by increasing sustainable business practices
It’s a great way of reducing not just your carbon footprint, but also energy, water and waste bills too
Certification provides your business with a useful management framework to monitor and help improve your sustainable practices
It can help raise awareness and facilitate behavioural change of guests, staff, and suppliers
You could achieve marketing advantage over your competitors by meeting increased demand for sustainable businesses
You also make it easier for visitors to make environmentally conscious travel decisions
EarthCheck is one of the world’s leading business advisory groups specialising in sustainability and destination management for the travel and tourism industry. EarthCheck’s holistic approach to responsible tourism and its world-leading science enable destinations and operators to benchmark and certify their performance with confidence and surety.
EarthCheck collaborates with clients in over 70 countries to help plan for the future and guide the design, construction and operation of intelligent buildings and the responsible management of tourism destinations.
The certification is for organisations across the visitor economy with a clearly defined boundary. It requires an appointed representative to be responsible for the management of the certification, however it assesses the entire organisation’s management practices.
The programme addresses key global environmental, cultural, social and economic concerns and deals with environmental regeneration and environmental improvement as well as the conservation of existing natural heritage assets.
Economic concerns addressed in the programme include employment conditions, support of local economy, and recognition of the seasonality of tourism revenue.
Visit the EarthCheck website for more information and apply.
Green Key is an international, voluntary eco-label owned by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and managed in Scotland by Keep Scotland Beautiful. It has been developed specifically for the hospitality and tourism sector.
It's recognised and supported by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation and the United Nations Environment Programme. With over 3,000 tourism businesses in 60 countries certified worldwide, Green Key is one of the world’s largest eco-certification programmes for the tourism industry.
Green Key criteria are based on environmental management, water, energy, administration, green activities, staff involvement, food and beverage and waste.
As a world leading sustainability standard, Green Tourism influence and advise tourism and hospitality businesses. Founded in Scotland, it has more than 2,500 members and its reach extends to 20 different countries worldwide.
Its awards are globally acknowledged as an indicator of environmentally friendly best practice and it’s expanding membership community and the positive impacts it’s collectively making, endorses its overarching vision to care for people, places and the planet.
This Scheme helps businesses reduce their environmental impact. Based on the three pillars of caring for people, places and our planet. The Green Tourism Assessment criteria covers over 70 indicators across 15 sustainability goals including carbon, waste, biodiversity, local produce, ethical purchasing and equality. All the criteria are aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2021, Green Tourism launched the Green Meetings Standard following strong demand for a meetings sector specific accreditation.
The Scheme is suitable for tourism and hospitality businesses from individual accommodation providers to visitor attractions and large hotel groups.
Visit the Green Tourism Scheme website for more information and apply.
