CCTV NewsAt present, ESG sustainable development is increasingly becoming a consensus on global economic development and a practical choice for more and more companies. Under the background of "dual carbon strategy", green development and common prosperity, ESG is also becoming a new logic, new outlet and new path for the value growth of the hotel industry.

From November 28 to December 1, the 8th China International Hotel Industry Conference, hosted by the China Hotel Association, Hainan International Economic Development Bureau and Hainan Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, was held in Haikou, Hainan. With the theme of "Green Leading, Integrity and Innovation", the event focuses on five major sections, including annual inventory outlook, high-quality results release, green annual meeting, green product docking, and free trade port cooperation, to grasp the general trend of development, clarify development ideas, expand consumption space, innovate consumption scenarios, enrich consumption experience, and lead the industry's high-quality development with "green dual national standards". At the conference, Li Tianxing, senior director of owner relations and sustainable development of Marriott International Greater China, accepted an exclusive interview with CCTV.com reporters to provide relevant insights for the high-quality development of the industry.

Li Tianxing (left), Senior Director of Owner Relations and Sustainable Development of Marriott International Greater China, accepted an exclusive interview with CCTV.com

Question: As an investment concept and evaluation standard that focuses on the non-financial performance of enterprises, ESG is also used to measure the sustainable operation capabilities of enterprises. Especially in recent years, ESG has received great attention in the hotel industry and has become a new path to explore sustainable development. Please tell us how Marriott Group implements the ESG sustainable development strategy?

Li Tianxing: In recent years, Marriott International has actively responded to the country's "dual carbon" goals. In 2021, it announced efforts to achieve science-based carbon reduction targets and strive to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in the value chain by 2050. The concept of sustainable development is one of the operational focuses of Marriott International's hotels in China, including five aspects: reducing waste, responsible procurement, energy conservation and emission reduction, "traveling together for good" and employee training. For example, in terms of reducing waste, Marriott International has actively carried out plastic reduction actions. At present, more than 95% of the group's hotels have replaced disposable plastic small bottles of bath products used in guest rooms with large pump bottles. This move is expected to reduce the number of small plastic bottles entering landfills by 500 million per year in the group's global hotels. We not only reduce the use of plastic bottles in our hotels and group offices in China, but also recycle them to achieve recyclability. The employee uniforms of the newly opened W Hotel in Studio City, Macau, are made of fabrics made from recycled plastic bottles; in terms of responsible procurement, Marriott Greater China cooperates with third parties to use big data and AI to trace, monitor and reduce food waste. This move reduces the amount of food waste by 65% per hotel on average. In terms of energy conservation and emission reduction, Marriott International currently has 110 Chinese hotels that have passed green certification. Nearly 80 hotels and resorts use solar energy to provide water and electricity supply in some areas of the hotel.

Question: What challenges do you think the hotel industry faces in ESG practice? How does Marriott Hotel balance the relationship between environmental protection and guest experience? How to build and manage a green supply chain?

Li Tianxing: Sustainable development is no longer a trend, but a necessity. We are well aware that achieving sustainable development requires close collaboration with partners, owners, and suppliers, while also focusing on employee awareness training on sustainable development to ensure a balance of interests. This year, Marriott has developed a detailed training plan to enhance employees' awareness of the importance of green development and encourage them to practice these principles in their daily work to promote sustainable development.

At the same time, the group also pays great attention to guest experience. We will actively listen to guest feedback and collaborate with partners, owners, and suppliers to ensure that the guest experience is not affected. For example, when we promote the use of large-size pump bottles to replace disposable small-size household bath products in guest room bathrooms, some guests say they prefer small-size bath products, which are easy to reuse. When they learned that this move would have a positive impact on the local community and the environment, the guests expressed great support and understanding. At the same time, according to the guests' dining needs, we guide guests to order moderately, and provide guests with packaging services for unfinished food, which most guests agree with.

In addition, we work with suppliers to give priority to environmentally friendly products and materials. Thus, we build a green supply chain and manage it. For example, all hotels in China are provided with suppliers certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC); by choosing seafood with the MSC blue label, they support the development of sustainable fisheries; actively promote the use of cage-free eggs in Chinese hotels... jointly promote green and sustainable development strategies.

Question: The six ministries of the State jointly issued and implemented the national standard for green hotels in 2007, and the State issued the national standard for green catering in 2021. For many years, the China Hotel Association has established more than 3,000 green enterprises in China with the core concept of "saving, environmental protection, peace of mind, and health", and has trained nearly 10,000 green professionals. The industry has formed a new trend of green "double national standards" leading sustainable development. Green development is no longer just energy conservation and environmental protection, cost reduction and efficiency improvement on the B side, but also rest assured consumption and health and safety on the C side. In particular, stopping food waste has become a social consensus, and low-carbon and environmentally friendly consumption is highly sought after by the younger generation. ESG is no longer a concept and information disclosure, but an important means to promote the green development of the hotel industry. What good suggestions do you have for companies to create green hotels? As a consumer, what green services do you hope to experience when staying in a hotel?

Li Tianxing: Green Hotel is a "Chinese National Standard" jointly formulated by six national ministries. It takes "saving, environmental protection, peace of mind, and health" as the core, and evaluates the sustainable operation of hotels from multiple dimensions such as green design, energy conservation and emission reduction, food safety and environmental protection.

First of all, it is very important to formulate a clear and quantifiable sustainable development goal. In the future, the group plans to reduce its landfill waste and kitchen waste by 45% and 50% respectively by the end of 2025, while reducing water intensity by 15%, carbon emission intensity by 30%, and achieving at least 30% of electricity from renewable energy. At the same time, an environmental management system will be established, and the group's Marriott Environmental Sustainability Hub (Marriott Environmental Sustainability Hub-MESH) will scientifically and effectively monitor and manage the environmental data of the group's hotels. In addition, the group's engineering global leadership team will regularly carry out participation activities to promote the integrity and participation of MESH data. Continue to actively promote the implementation of green hotel certification in hotels in the Chinese market.

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