The Review ➔ Eurostar still treading lightly
EUROSTAR has announced a raft of new environmental targets after exceeding expectations laid out in its Tread Lightly programme which was launched in 2007. The cross-channel rail operator
will examine its company-wide carbon footprint as well as looking to further cut carbon emissions per traveller. Eurostar met its original target
of reducing CO2 emissions per passenger journey by 25 per cent
in 2009 and remains on course to meet its 35 per cent target by 2012. "It was a bit of a journey into the unknown at the time, but we now know better what to do and how to do it," says Eurostar chief executive Nicolas Petrovic. Eurostar says the environmental debate has shifted from carbon neutrality and offsetting towards a wider focus on sustainability. It has ditched its offsetting scheme, but now aims to reduce emissions
across the business by 25 per cent by 2015. Petrovic conceded that there is first the complex matter of measuring the company's direct and indirect carbon footprint. "It's ambitious, particularly because we're not even sure how much carbon we currently produce," he said. "We are taking a magnifying glass to our operation and challenging ourselves to look at our entire carbon footprint." Every area of its business will be
scrutinised, including its supply chain, and will drill down to factors such as the way in which its employees travel to work. Eurostar is also ramping up efforts to convert more business travellers from air to rail, partic- ularly on routes to Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and regional France. Some 2.5million people travel with onward connections to/ from their Eurostar destination, a figure it aims to double in the next two years. It is working with train operating companies in the UK and Europe to make it easier to book through travel and is carrying out research comparing the carbon emissions of rail and air journeys on connecting routes such as Manchester to Paris. Eurostar recently teamed up with
Worn Again to 'up-cycle' used staff uniforms into items such as bags (pictured above) which are now being distributed to on-board crew.
THE GREEN WATCH IN BRIEF
• ACCOMMODATION specialist BSI has teamed up with the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) to promote greener hotel choices to its bookers and clients. GTBS gradings will feature on booking systems such as BSIDirect and the company also sponsored a ‘Carbon Reduction Award for a Hotel Chain’ as part of the GTBS’s Green Tourism Week in June. Says Andrea Nicholas, managing director of the GTBS, “The prevalence of responsible booking policies within the business travel market is growing fast and corporate travel procurement specialists typically now insist on a ‘sustainable’ dimension.“
• THAILAND'S largest hotel operator, Centara Hotels & Resorts, continues to earn plaudits for its extensive programme to 'green' its luxury accommodation portfolio – it now has 40 such accolades. Energy use is carefully managed, waste water is treated and re-used, and environ- mentally sustainable materials and energy-saving technologies are prioritised during the design and construction of new-build hotels.
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