Environmental Leader

The Caribbean tourism sector – pushed by its hotel industry – has launched a 24-month project to move towards energy efficiency.

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) – through its environmental arm, the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST) – are launching a $2 million effort to implement energy efficient practices and help hotels generate renewable energy.

The Caribbean Hotel Energy Efficiency Action Program (CHENACT) is using Barbados as a case study, complete with detailed energy audits that may render a better understanding of energy consumption patterns among Caribbean hotels, according to a press release.

CHENACT was the brainchild of  the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which is contributing $1 million. The remainder of the budget is coming from a number of participating agencies and the government of Barbados.

Other agencies include:

• The German Technical Cooperation (GTZ).
• The Centre for Development Enterprise (CDE) based in Brussels.
• The Inter American Development Bank (IDB) through the Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Initiative (SECCI).
• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNDP)

The Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria Partnership, a coalition of 27 organizations, last fall issued criteria for sustainable tourism.

The guidelines focus on four areas: maximizing tourism’s social and economic benefits to local communities; reducing negative impacts on cultural heritage; reducing harm to local environments; and planning for sustainability.