COP28: Radisson rolls out Net Zero Nights initiative in the UAE

To coincide with the upcoming COP28 summit that will begin at the end of this month in Dubai, Radisson Hotel Group has introduced a new initiative called Net Zero Nights.

During the 13 days of the UNFCCC COP28 conference, the group said that it would be “making sustainability the default option for all guests staying in one of its 16 UAE hotels.”

It plans to make their hotel nights Net Zero with regards to scope 1 and 2 emissions.

During the COP28 conference, it will purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (iRECs) to neutralise the electric emissions associated with its hotels in UAE.

Additionally, non-electric emissions will be addressed through Certified Carbon Credits. The carbon credits are from a REDD+ project in the 64,000-hectare reserve Rimba Raya in Borneo, dedicated to preservation of endangered species including the Bornean Orangutan. The project support various community-based projects, operates under a Verified Carbon Standard and earned Triple Gold Validation under CCB standard for sustainable forest management.

Radisson sets sustainability targets

Radisson Hotel Group has already announced its commitment to becoming Net Zero by 2050. To that end, it has introduced measures including greening hotel buildings, transitioning to renewable energy, and hosting carbon-neutral meetings to continuously reduce its environmental footprint.

As intermediate targets, the group aims to halve its footprint by 2030. In the UAE, it cited examples of Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek which has installed a thermodynamic solar system using solar panel blocks and a heat pump for hot water production.

Radisson RED Dubai Silicon Oasis meanwhile achieved LEED Platinum status in April 2021, resulting in more than 22 per cent annual energy cost reduction and a 50 per cent water use reduction by way of the measures implemented to achieve the certification.

Radisson Blu Resort, Fujairah installed aerators in all guestrooms and a thermodynamic solar system. The resort also recycles water through a grey water treatment plant and then uses that water for irrigation purposes.

With the COP28 summit in mind, apart from Radisson, another major hotel brand within the UAE, Rove Hotels, has also committed to planting at least 28,000 trees by the year-end. It said that a tree will be planted for each room booked during the COP28 period. It has almost 3,500 hotel rooms across the city, while its Rove Expo 2020 property is also the only hotel present at the COP28 site.

Read: Radisson targets to have 100 operational hotels in Middle East by 2026

This article originally appeared on Business Traveller Middle East