Wyndham Worldwide, one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, has been named to The Climate “A” List by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) for its actions on mitigating climate change in this past year. Wyndham Worldwide raised its Climate Disclosure Leadership Index performance score – a measure of a company’s transparency on climate-related disclosures – to an all-time high, receiving a score of 98. The CDP is the world’s largest global environmental disclosure system and evaluates how companies are managing and reducing their carbon footprints. This is the company’s second consecutive year recognized as a performance leader.
“Our progress continues to earn us industry distinctions that recognize our diligent and focused work in sustainability and the value we create for our shareholders, our associates, our partners and communities,” said Faith Taylor, senior vice president, corporate social responsibility, Wyndham Worldwide. “We keep raising the bar for ourselves so that we can be better partners and truly make a difference. This recognition is a clear validation that our accomplishments deliver tangible and meaningful results that aligns sustainability with effective business operations.”
As further proof of its industry-leading best practices, Wyndham Worldwide recently reached its carbon emissions goal six years ahead of schedule. The company achieved a 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions (measured on a per square foot basis), well-surpassing its goal, and set a new goal of 25 percent reduction by 2025. The Wyndham Green program has saved over $68 million in utility expenses since the inception of the program in 2010.
“This is a huge achievement for a company with such a wide and diverse global portfolio, and especially one in the hospitality industry,” said Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and chief executive officer, Wyndham Worldwide. “Our commitment to sustainability as one of our top strategic priorities is critical to the long-term success of our business.”
Earlier this year, Wyndham Worldwide became the first and only hospitality company to partner with United Airlines on the Eco-Skies CarbonChoice corporate carbon offset program, which enables the airlines’ corporate customers to track and offset the emissions stemming from their business travel. The company was also named to the Dow Jones North America and World Sustainability Indices for the third consecutive year. It is one of three hospitality companies, and is the Index Leader for the hospitality sector for both the North American and World indices. The Dow Jones Sustainability Index is one of the most recognized sustainability performance rating tools, with the Index identifying leaders in the areas of sustainable economic, environmental and social performance.
“These accolades validate our ongoing journey,” said Taylor. “But, we never rest on any success, and we continue to build on our success and raise the bar. Today, we are announcing our new goal to reduce our energy and water by 25 percent by 2025.”
Since setting its goal in 2010, Wyndham Worldwide has reduced its carbon emissions through:
- The Wyndham Green Toolbox, a proprietary state-of-the-art eco-software program that tracks and measures environmental impact for the company’s wide range of hospitality and office properties;
- Becoming more efficient in energy and water usage. Energy production and consumption (electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, propane) is the leading cause of carbon emissions. Water conservation reduces the amount of water used, and therefore reduces the energy demand to produce and move the water;
- An environmental certification program for the company’s participating timeshare properties, a first for the hospitality industry.
The world’s biggest travel and tourism companies are 20 percent more carbon efficient today than they were in 2005, on course to cut carbon emissions by 50 percent from 2005 to 2035 and to reach the target 25 percent reduction by 2020, according to “Travel & Tourism 2015; Connecting Global Climate Action,” released from the World Travel & Tourism Council.
As one of the largest hospitality companies, Wyndham Worldwide accommodates millions of travelers every day through its hospitality portfolio that includes everything from hotels to vacation ownership resorts to vacation rentals to holiday parks in nearly 100 countries. With operationally controlled assets including owned, managed and leased properties in all of its business units, the company tracks, measures and reports on more than 50 million square feet across its global hospitality portfolio.
Wyndham Worldwide’s recently released 2014-2015 Corporate Social Responsibility Report details its strong, industry-leading commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practices.
