This Is The UK’s First Climate Positive Hotel
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3 months ago
Whatley Manor marks a milestone in the UK hospitality industry
British hospitality welcomes a new chapter today with the announcement that Whatley Manor Hotel & Spa has become the first climate positive hotel in the UK. Read on for all the details.
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Whatley Manor Becomes The UK’s First Climate Positive Hotel
It’s not everyday that we see a hotel reach the coveted ‘climate positive’ benchmark – and before today, we’d never even seen it happen in the UK. There are only a handful of climate positive hotels in the world, but the latest to join this exclusive club is as British as it get: Whatley Manor Hotel & Spa, a pretty countryside establishment nestled in the rolling hills of the Cotswolds.
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‘At Whatley Manor Hotel, we believe that luxury should not come at the expense of the environment,’ said hotel owner Christian Landolt. ‘Becoming the first Climate Positive hotel in the UK is a testament to the team’s dedication to create a positive impact on the planet while delivering an exceptional guest experience.’
How Did They Do It?
Back in February 2019, Whatley Manor began a comprehensive sustainability and decarbonisation strategy that looked at tackling multiple goals and issues addressing climate change. These spanned energy efficiency, waste reduction, community engagement and climate action.
Partnering with NOW Transforming Hospitality GmbH and EarthCheck, the hotel used a science-based approach to measure, audit and certify its actions – reporting all of its actions honestly and transparently to avoid greenwashing. It took five years for Whatley Manor to reduce its Scope 1, 2 and 3 climate emissions, earning an EarthCheck Silver Certification along the way in 2022 and joining the NOW Climate Positive Programme to get access to bigger climate action projects.
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One of the ways the hotel chose to fund climate action was through investing in initiatives like the Cookstove Project in Kenya, purchasing high-quality carbon credits certified by Gold Standard to offset its emissions and supporting a range of Sustainable Development Goals.
But the work isn’t over yet for the Whatley Manor team, according to Landolt: ‘Despite our significant achievements so far, there is still much to do, our actions do not stop here and we cannot and will not rest on our laurels. We are committed to achieving Climate Positive each year to ensure we carry on being responsible for more than our current emissions, respecting nature, people and planet.’
What Does Climate Positive Mean?
Being climate positive means that an organisation and its activities don’t just offset their carbon emissions (net zero), but also remove additional CO2 from the atmosphere.
You can find out more about the term climate positive, and what it entails, with our guide here.
Featured image courtesy of Whatley Manor
