Government calls on hotel groups to go green
The Government has called on large hotel groups to become more energy efficient to help combat the effects of climate change.
Launching a consultation on cost-effective ways to achieve reductions in greenhouse gas levels, Environment Secretary David Miliband said hotel chains and other large non-energy intensive organisations had to play a part in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
The consultation is seeking views on the most cost-effective measures to reduce emissions from big non-energy intensive concerns by 1.2 million tonnes of carbon a year by 2020.
It looks in detail at two options, an Energy Performance Commitment and a voluntary system of reporting and benchmarking.
The consultation will focus on organisations whose energy usage would roughly equal electricity bills above £250,000 a year at current energy prices.
Around 5,000 organisations fall into that category, including hotel chains, supermarkets, rail operators and large offices as well as large local authorities and central government departments. Together they emit about 15 million tonnes of carbon annually.
Miliband said the organisations concerned had significant potential to achieve cost-effective carbon reductions by improving energy efficiency.
"Climate change threatens greater economic damage than the two world wars and the Great Depression put together," he said. "In the future, every industry should be an environmental industry."
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By Daniel Thomas
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