Dubai relaunches Carbon Calculator for hospitality sector

Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) has relaunched its ‘Carbon Calculator’ tool to measure the carbon footprint within Dubai’s hospitality sector.

Since its launch in January 2017, Dubai Sustainable Tourism’s Carbon Calculator, part of the Tourism Dirham Platform, has been measuring the carbon footprint of hotels across Dubai.

The tool, which has been revamped, will track real-time data for carbon emission sources, allowing hotels to identify and effectively manage their energy consumption, according to the Dubai Media Office.

How the carbon calculator works

To enable tracking, hotels have to submit their consumption of nine carbon emission sources, including electricity, water, district cooling, liquefied petroleum gas, landfill waste, recycled waste, petrol, diesel, and refrigerants on a monthly basis.

This information is then collected and analysed to provide industry insights on the sector’s collective carbon footprint.

By formulating a baseline along with consistent tracking, this data enables hotels to understand their energy, water and waste consumption and further identify successful cost-saving opportunities.

We’re pleased to announce the relaunch of the pioneering Carbon Calculator tool that measures the carbon footprint within #Dubai’s #hospitality sector.

The tool has now been revamped to track real-time data for carbon emission sources. https://t.co/8gkWiUOJXi#sustainability pic.twitter.com/nni3lcCKUt

— Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (@DubaiDET) March 6, 2023

19 Sustainability Requirements

The data provided helps hotels and resorts implement initiatives to efficiently manage their carbon footprint in line with the 19 ‘Sustainability Requirements’ put in place to establish a baseline across hotels in Dubai and unify hotels’ environmental practices.

The 19 Sustainability Requirements include sustainable management approaches, performance metrics, energy, food and water management plans, guest education, employee training initiatives, the presence of sustainability committees within hotel establishments and corporate social responsibility programmes for local communities.

Yousuf Lootah, acting CEO of Corporate Strategy and Performance sector, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, said: “We are pleased to relaunch the Carbon Calculator as part of our ongoing commitment to support the UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategy, and align with the Dubai Economic Agenda D33.

“The upgraded platform also further aligns with the UAE’s commitment to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly as the city ramps up preparations to host the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) this year.”

Lootah added: “As DET continually strives to further enhance its services to stakeholders and partners, the revamped carbon calculator will provide hotels with a user-friendly experience and enable hotels to make informed decisions.

“By keeping track of their energy consumption, the data provides a baseline for DET to develop strategies for the sector so that hotels and resorts can effectively manage impact, improve the efficiency of managing carbon resources and identify potential saving opportunities.

“In addition to supporting hotels and resorts within the city’s tourism ecosystem, this initiative has a larger goal: creating a city that is the world’s most visited and the best place to live and work in, as envisaged by the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan.”

Dubai Sustainable Tourism course

In addition to relaunching the Carbon Calculator, the Dubai College of Tourism (DCT) and Dubai Sustainable Tourism (DST) have upgraded the ‘Dubai Sustainable Tourism’ course available on DCT’s innovative learning platform – Dubai Way, according to the Dubai Media Office.

The course offers a broad range of educational and awareness programmes for people employed in tourist-facing roles across the tourism ecosystem.

The newly relaunched module includes educational segments focused on the Carbon Calculator, water and energy saving, how to establish a ‘Green Team’ and implement green procurement strategies.

The course aims to empower participants with the knowledge to successfully implement ESG principles across the travel and hospitality sectors.

Hotels and resorts can now start the process by registering no later than March 15, 2023.

A strong performance in 2022

In other news, The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi revealed that a total of 4.1 million hotel visitors stayed in the emirate’s hotels during 2022, which is a 24 per cent rise from 2021.

In other news, Dubai’s hotel industry also ended 2022 on a good note, with occupancy rates and revenue per available room (RevPAR) rising for the month of December.

Read: Dubai’s hotel industry ends 2022 on a high note

KPMG’s latest 2022 Dubai Hospitality Report revealed that Dubai registered the highest hotel occupancy rate in 15 years by the end of Expo, with the emirate’s tourism sector contributing $29.4bn to the economy in 2022.