Bethesda, MD – Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) and the state of Amazonas today signed an agreement to support the first project of its kind to help protect 1.4 million acres of endangered rainforest. This innovative partnership between government and the private sector is one of the first in the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation. Marriott has committed $2 million to fund an environmental management plan administered by the newly created Amazonas Sustainable Foundation. By year end, Marriott guests and group customers will also be able to offset the greenhouse gas emissions generated from their hotel stays by contributing to this rainforest fund. In addition to offering this carbon offset, Marriott is taking new steps to reduce the company’s water, waste and energy consumption; green its supply chain; build greener hotels; and engage employees and guests to take action.
“At Marriott, we believe the future of business is green,” says Arne Sorenson, Chief Financial Officer and co-chair of the company’s Green Council. (…)
To reduce and offset its global environmental footprint, which it has calculated at 2.9 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually* – or .030 metric tons (65.5 pounds) per available room – Marriott has developed a five-point strategy in collaboration with Conservation International, a global conservation organization. This includes:
• Carbon Offsets…Protecting the Rainforest – Help protect the 1.4 million acre (589,000 hectares) Juma Sustainable Development reserve, an area rich in biodiversity.
• Water, Waste and Energy – Further reduce fuel and water consumption by 25 percent per available room over the next 10 years, and install solar power at up to 40 hotels by 2017.
• Supply Chain – Engage the company’s top 40 vendors to supply price-neutral greener products across 12 categories of its $10 billion supply chain.
• Green Buildings – Empower our hotel development partners to site, design and construct new hotels according to green standards in line with the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards by the end of 2009.
• Employee and Guest Engagement – Educate and inspire employees and guests to support the environment through their everyday actions at home, while at work and on travel.
For more details about this announcement, visit http://www.conservation.org/newsroom/pressreleases/Pages/CI_Marriott_green_hotels_announcment.aspx and www.marriott.com/environment.
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