Hotels are designed around comfort, but delivering that comfort requires substantial amounts of energy, water, food and materials. With thousands of properties operating across different climates and destinations, global hotel groups have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to reduce that impact on a meaningful scale.
Accor, the hospitality company behind brands such as Fairmont, Sofitel, Raffles, Mövenpick, Novotel and ibis, has entered a new phase of its environmental and social strategy. Its former Planet 21 program helped introduce sustainability measures across the portfolio, but the company has now replaced it with Hosting Change, a roadmap covering 2026 through 2030.
A New Sustainability Roadmap for Accor Hotels
Hosting Change organizes Accor’s efforts around four areas: future-proofing hotels, empowering employees, improving the guest experience and supporting the communities and ecosystems surrounding its properties.
The strategy is intended to move sustainability beyond a collection of individual hotel initiatives. Instead, environmental considerations are being incorporated into hotel design, renovations, purchasing, restaurant operations and everyday property management.
This matters because many Accor properties are owned or operated by different partners. Establishing shared targets, measurement systems and design guidelines can help create more consistent progress across a large and diverse hotel network.
Reducing Carbon Emissions and Energy Use
Heating, cooling, lighting, laundry and hot-water systems are among the largest sources of energy consumption in a hotel. Accor’s climate target calls for a 46 percent reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions by 2030, compared with its 2019 baseline.
Scope 1 emissions come directly from sources controlled by a business, such as fuel burned at a property. Scope 2 covers indirect emissions associated with purchased electricity, heating and cooling.
Reaching that target will require a combination of measures. Depending on the property, these may include more efficient heating and cooling equipment, LED lighting, building-management technology, improved insulation and greater use of renewable electricity.
Accor is also working with hotel owners to incorporate responsible design principles into new construction and renovations. Decisions made during the design stage—from the orientation of a building to the selection of equipment and materials—can affect a hotel’s environmental footprint for decades.
Under Hosting Change, Accor plans to test and scale more than 100 new solutions related to resource efficiency and circularity by 2030. Successful ideas could then be introduced more widely across the company’s network.
Tackling Food Waste in Hotel Restaurants
Food waste is one of the hospitality industry’s most visible environmental challenges. Breakfast buffets, banquets, room service and multiple restaurant outlets can make it difficult to predict exactly how much food guests will consume.
Accor has established a goal of reducing food waste by 60 percent by 2030. Meeting it will involve measuring what is discarded, improving purchasing and preparation practices, adjusting buffet quantities and finding responsible uses for food that would otherwise go to waste.
Technology can help kitchens identify which ingredients and dishes are being discarded most frequently. However, some of the most effective changes are operational: preparing smaller batches, replenishing buffets as needed and designing menus that make better use of ingredients.
Guests may notice changes such as more carefully portioned buffets or fewer oversized displays. When managed well, these measures can reduce waste without diminishing the dining experience.
Putting More Plants on the Menu
Accor also plans to make plant-forward dining a larger part of its food and beverage program. The company aims for 35 percent of the dishes served across its hotels and restaurants to be plant-forward—including vegetarian and vegan choices—by 2030.
That does not mean meat and seafood will disappear from hotel menus. Instead, vegetables, grains, legumes and locally suitable ingredients should receive greater attention, giving guests more variety while potentially reducing the environmental impact associated with their meals.
The best plant-forward menus are not built around sacrifice. They introduce dishes that stand on their own because of their flavor, creativity and connection to the destination.
Water Conservation and Less Waste
Water use can be particularly important at resorts, properties in drought-prone regions and hotels with pools, spas, golf courses or extensive landscaping. Accor’s strategy includes improving the measurement and management of water use, identifying leaks and inefficient equipment, and introducing more water-conscious operating practices.
Guests may encounter low-flow fixtures, towel and linen reuse programs, water refill stations and landscaping selected for the local climate. Behind the scenes, changes to laundry systems, kitchens and mechanical equipment can produce even greater savings.
Accor has also been working to reduce single-use plastics in the guest experience. Depending on the hotel, that may mean refillable bathroom dispensers, reusable water bottles, filtered-water stations and alternatives to individually wrapped amenities.
Implementation can vary from one property to another, so guests should not assume that every hotel under an Accor brand has introduced exactly the same measures.
The Growing Importance of Independent Certification
One of the most significant parts of Accor’s current strategy is its emphasis on third-party eco-certification.
A recognized certification requires a hotel to demonstrate that it meets established criteria rather than simply describing itself as “green.” Assessments may examine energy and water use, waste management, purchasing, employee practices, biodiversity and the hotel’s relationship with its local community.
Accor has worked with certification programs including Green Key and Green Globe. Its broader approach is connected to standards recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, which establishes international sustainability criteria for tourism businesses and destinations.
Certification does not mean a hotel has eliminated its environmental impact. It does, however, give travelers a more useful benchmark and can provide independent verification that certain practices are being measured.
Sustainability Extends Beyond the Environment
Accor’s roadmap also recognizes that responsible hospitality involves people as well as buildings and natural resources.
The company intends to provide training and mentorship to people facing barriers to employment, with a goal of certifying 20,000 participants through its social mobility program by 2030. Hosting Change also includes commitments involving workplace safety, human rights, inclusion and professional development.
At the community level, Accor says it will expand partnerships, volunteering and programs that support vulnerable people. One target calls for 1,000 hotels to make rooms available to victims of violence by 2030.
The company is also placing greater emphasis on biodiversity and the effect hotels can have on surrounding environments. This is especially relevant for coastal resorts and properties located close to forests, wetlands, coral reefs and other sensitive ecosystems.
What Travelers Should Look For
Travelers interested in reducing the impact of a hotel stay can look beyond broad environmental claims and ask more specific questions:
- Does the hotel hold a current third-party sustainability certification?
- Does it measure energy, water consumption and food waste?
- Are refillable water stations available?
- Does the restaurant feature seasonal, local or plant-forward dishes?
- How does the property support local businesses and communities?
- What steps does it take to protect nearby habitats and wildlife?
Travelers should also examine the individual property rather than relying solely on the hotel brand. A newly constructed resort, a converted historic building and an airport hotel face very different environmental challenges.
From Corporate Targets to Individual Hotel Stays
Accor’s scale gives the company the ability to influence hotel owners, suppliers, employees and millions of guests. It also makes implementation more complicated. Progress will ultimately depend on how consistently its targets translate into measurable changes at individual properties.
Hosting Change provides a more current framework for that work, bringing together carbon reduction, food waste, water management, responsible dining, independent certification and community support.
For guests, the most encouraging changes may be the ones that require little effort: a well-designed room that uses less energy, a restaurant where plant-forward dishes feel genuinely appealing, and a hotel that supports its destination while still delivering a comfortable stay.
