Certification & Assessment

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GG2050_logos_allGreen Growth 2050 – A New Global Standard

Green Growth 2050 has been developed to meet the needs of tourism and travel businesses seeking today’s solutions to the issues driving social, cultural and environmental change and move beyond the current one-dimensional, legacy, certification-based solutions of yesterday.

The Green Growth 2050 Global Standard is based on a range of internationally recognised environmental and hotel industry sustainability standards. These include:

  • UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • UN Global Compact;
  • The UNEP Green Economy Principles;
  • UN Declaration of Human Rights;
  • The Code against the sexual exploitation of children;
  • UNWTO Ethics in Tourism;
  • International Labour Organisation Standards; and,
  • The Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria for Hotels and Tour Operators.

conventionsBy utilizing these international programs, Green Growth 2050 has been able to develop a comprehensive global standard that covers all the major sustainability and CSR perspectives including:

  • Sustainability Management
  • Legal Compliance
  • Labour Practices
  • Health & Safety
  • Human Rights
  • Sustainability Design & Construction of Buildings & Infrastructure
  • Sustainable Operations – Best Practice
  • Bribery & Corruption
  • Energy, Water, Waste & CO2
  • Environmental Stewardship – Conserving Resources
  • Environmental Stewardship – Reducing Pollution
  • Environmental Stewardship – Conserving Biodiversity
  • Social & Community Development

Green Growth 2050 Global Standard includes over 400 CSR & sustainability indicators making it one of the most comprehensive travel and tourism based standards available.

Each non-mandatory indicator is rated in accordance with its importance within a total scoring regime out of 550. Businesses will be certified Silver, Gold or Platinum depending on their overall percentage achievement.

Businesses will be certified Silver, Gold or Platinum depending on their overall percentage achievement. 70+ for Silver, 80%+ for Gold and 90%+ for Platinum.

An introductory certification know as Green Growth 2050 Bronze is designed for businesses wishing to be certified but needing to take a longer approach to their sustainability journey. Bronze certification requires compliance to all the mandatory indicators and a detailed plan to achieve a minimum level of 80% compliance (Gold Certification) within 5 years.

To be certified under the Green Growth 2050 Global Standard each hotel must also comply with all the mandatory indicators.

The overall framework will also be underpinned by an ongoing commitment to continuous improvement.

Green Growth 2050 certification will be determined by an annual assessment process undertaken by an expertly trained group of fully independent third-party auditors.  Annual onsite audits will alternate each year between a certification and surveillance assessment.

The Green Growth Global Standard was developed by the team at VisionCSR & Green Growth 2050 and also draws on elements of the following additional standards and international agreements:

  • Baseline Criteria of the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas
  • Agenda 21 and principles for Sustainable Development endorsed by 182 Governments at the United Nations Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992
  • The Mohonk Agreement
  • ISO 9001 / 14001 / 19011 / 22000 / 26000 (International Standard Organization)

To learn more about the Green Growth 2050 Global Standard, please click here

To learn more about the Implementation process, please click here