France is cracking down on potential greenwashing in its hotel industry via its new “climate and resilience” law, making it mandatory for all tourist establishments to guarantee climate commitments.
The French parliament passed the bill that specifies rules on “environmental labeling” back in 2021. Now that eco-certification must be ratified by 2026.
Hotels were part of the pilot project for testing the system, with UMIH — the national trade union for the hospitality industries — promoting the new rules among its 30,000 members.
By 2026, all French hotels nationwide must sign up to one of various ecolabel certification schemes. The obligations are part of the government’s move to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030.
ADEME, the French Agency for Ecological Transition, said hotels in the world’s top tourist destination contribute to 7% of greenhouse gas emissions, putting huge pressure on water and energy resources and creating food waste. Though far from being the worst in this field, France wants to be a global leader.
Hubert Vendeville, CEO of Betterfly Tourism, is the architect of an ADEME-approved tool used to calculate a hotel’s environmental rating. He said the “environmental footprint” tool assesses hotels based on the environmental impact of a room night using several indicators:
- Contribution to carbon emissions.
- Water and non-renewable energy consumption.
- The percentage of organic and European Union-regulated “ecolabel” hotel products used in kitchen, laundry and hotel amenities.
Following an audit, hotels are ranked with a “green score” from A to E and are continuously monitored for their eco-performance.
Vendeville said the “etiquette environnementale” — or environmental label — is not just another ecolabel “with criteria to tick” but a rigorous methodology based on “an impact calculation method of a hotel’s carbon footprint.”
The criteria applies to guest services, breakfast and wellness facilities through to water heating and air-conditioning systems, lighting, linen and cleaning products, he said.
During an audit, the agency collects between 200 and 1,000 pieces of data from a hotel, “such as bills for water, energy, linen, equipment and food products served at breakfast,” Vendeville said.
“Details like the difference between the impact of a frozen from a fresh croissant or the lifespan of linen are analyzed,” he said.
Sustainability makes business sense
Not only will these sustainability metrics be better for the environment, they will help hotel owners save money in the long run.
“Striving for a better rating is not only sustainable but profitable,” Vendeville added. “For each room night, it is possible to save €1 in annual operating costs, equating to €15,000 ($15,645) in savings for the average hotel,” he said.
Ludovic Poyau, president of the UMIH Sustainable Development Commission and head of the union’s hotel industry branch for the Centre Val de Loire, said simple sustainable solutions can lead to big savings. Examples include reducing a hotel’s water consumption by almost a half by installing aerators to reduce the flow rate in taps and energy-saving showers.
Karim Khan, chef d’enterprise — or manager-owner — of hotel Le Château d’Apigné, near the city of Rennes, and former president of sustainable development at the UMIH, said he has been involved with getting hotels onboard for the new labeling requirements.
A lot of the impulse for more transparent labeling came from consumers, Khan said. The new law will create “transparency for guests” on a hotel’s carbon-reduction commitments. It will allow them to clearly and concretely “gauge a hotel’s environmental impact and know what to expect,” he added.
Khan said hotels in France were already aware of the need “to save the planet” but ecolabels that comply with the law will be “much, much more restrictive and much more effective for the climate,” he added.
Poyau’s mantra is “energy sobriety,” which requires rethinking a hotel’s energy needs.
“Other solutions we have implemented include the installation of dual-flush toilets to conserve water and energy-efficient induction hobs,” Poyau said.
Poyau is also the chef and owner at hotel Auberge Du Cheval Blanc in the Loire Valley. Despite serving more guests this year, his hotel has saved more than four megawatt-hours of electricity, enough to drive an electrical vehicle 14,000 miles. Buoyed by guests “eco-actions,” Poyau said the hotel has reduced its energy consumption by more than 10%.
Subsidy scrambling
In anticipation of the new law, the demand from hotels for various ecolabel certification is up 70% according to the UMIH. Thirty percent of French hotels are now classified under various ecolabels, from the 1998-launched Clef Verte (Green Key) to local schemes.
Government subsidies for green change in hotels is behind the surge, on top of the need to fall in line with the pending law, Vendeville said.
“Very often we find subsidies for 50% to 70% of the investments they must implement to get the labeling,” he added.
Gerald Chabert, director of operations at Lyon-based Éhôtels Collection, said three of its hotels sport Betterfly’s Environmental Label, with The Collège Hôtel and Fourvière Hôtel graded B and C, respectively.
“The tourism industry is being singled out, and hotels must initiate a change,” he said. “This is the direction history is going.”
Approximately 40 hotels in Lyon have applied for government sustainability subsidies. Subsidies include up to 80% of certification fees and up to €2,000 per establishment.
“With a record 9.4 million tourists in 2023, Lyon is attracting visitors with its economic dynamism and eco-responsibility,” Chabert said.