Meliá Celebrates World Environment Day
Announcing New Projects In Combatting Climate Change, Promoting The Circular Economy And Defending The Oceans
For World Environment Day on June 5, Meliá Hotels International (MHI) has announced a new energy efficiency partnership with the start-up Indoor Clima involving an investment by MHI of €4.5 million which aims to reduce its CO2 emissions by more than 66,000 tons, equivalent to planting 3.3 million trees.
- The company presents a new project to reduce CO2 emissions and an agreement to protect the loggerhead sea turtle.
- Meliá also extends its involvement in the Soap for Hope project run by Diversey and the Coca Cola Circular Seas project to promote the circular economy.
For World Environment Day on June 5, Meliá Hotels International (MHI) has announced a new energy efficiency partnership with the start-up Indoor Clima involving an investment by MHI of €4.5 million which aims to reduce its CO2 emissions by more than 66,000 tons, equivalent to planting 3.3 million trees.
The project forms part of the company environmental strategy, which aims, among other objectives, to reduce emissions per stay in its hotels by 18.4% by 2020 (and by 50% up to 2035) and water consumption by 8%. Plans also include increasing the use of certified renewable energy sources to 70% of its total global energy use, a figure that is already at 100% in Spain.
The project is named CO2PERATE and focuses on two areas: the monitoring of 80% of electricity use and constant measurement of fuel and water use to detect areas for improvement and implement more eco-efficient measures; and the use of artificial intelligence in air conditioning systems to achieve a more efficient performance based on variables such as hotel occupancy or temperature.
The CO2PERATE project is also aligned with the MHI digital transformation, which also involves partnerships with start-ups to work on shared objectives and help create new opportunities for employment and innovation. For Gabriel Escarrer, Executive Vice President and CEO of Meliá Hotels International, "action by companies to combat climate change is a global priority and technology can help us achieve our goals. The great thing about the CO2PERATE project is that it combines both priorities, reducing our footprint through more efficient systems driven by the latest technology. I am certain that the project will go on to become a benchmark for other companies in the industry."
Turtle protection
This week, the company will also sign an agreement with the Palma Aquarium Foundation to help protect the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), which the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) ) places in danger of extinction as a direct consequence of climate change and human activities.
The location of some MHI hotels coincides with important turtle nesting areas. In Mexico, for example, the company is already involved in several turtle protection programmes on various beaches. The Balearic Islands are an important feeding ground for the loggerhead sea turtle, including a high concentration of young turtles born in the Mexico and Florida areas (80%) or in the eastern Mediterranean (20%).
Turtle conservation requires the protection of nesting areas, and that's why the hotel chain is working with the Palma Aquarium Foundation to investigate actions to guarantee successful nesting, while also training and raising awareness among employees, guests and suppliers through different activities and group environmental dynamics.
In addition to demonstrating the company's commitment to the conservation of biodiversity, the project also aims to highlight the importance of eliminating plastic from our oceans where many species are endangered due to entanglement or the ingestion of plastics.
Promoting the circular economy
Meliá Hotels International has extended its relationship with two of its key partners, Diversey and Coca Cola, through cooperation in social and environmental projects that have allowed MHI to increase its commitment to the development of a circular economy.
Meliá has been cooperating in the Soap for Hope project run by Diversey since 2017. The project provides the communities most in need with a means of subsistence through recycling leftover soap from the hotel and also improving general hygiene. Poor hygiene is the cause of death of an estimated seven million children every year worldwide.
After two years of success, Meliá has now extended the scope of the project to 26 hotels in Asia and America, which together expect to recycle almost 59 tons of soap every year to donate to local communities in the destinations where they are located.
Meliá has also announced that it will be taking part again this year in the Coca Cola Circular Seas project for cleaning up coastlines and sea beds. Around twenty hotels will take part this year, starting this month with five days cleaning La Barrosa Beach in Cadiz, Tiro de Pichón Beach in Alicante, Niu Blau Beach in Santa Eulalia (Ibiza), Magaluf Beach in Calviá in Mallorca, and Arenal des Ases Beach in Felanitx in Mallorca.
Meliá Hotels International thus aims to extend a commitment shared with Coca Cola to protect the environment and raise awareness among its three key stakeholders, its customers, employees and suppliers, about the need to combat climate change and protect the natural environment, essential in the development of more sustainable and responsible tourism.