Hospitality industry launches global consultation on sustainability standards
The Energy & Environment Alliance (EEA), a global coalition whose members represent more than 50,000 hotels and £360bn in hospitality and real-estate capital, today launched a worldwide consultation on the establishment of the first financially material sustainability accounting standards for the hotels and lodging sector.
The initiative, led by the EEA Taskforce on Hotels & Lodging Sustainability Accounting Standards, in collaboration with King’s Business School, aims to create audit-grade disclosure standards that investors, asset managers, lenders and operators can rely on to evaluate risk, performance and long-term asset value.
“Sustainability performance now directly affects how assets are financed, insured and valued,” said Ufi Ibrahim, founder and chief executive of the EEA. “The question for our industry is no longer whether we disclose, but how we do so in a way that is commercially intelligent, credible and comparable across markets. This consultation is shaping the way the future is being built.”
The new financial infrastructure for hospitality
The proposed standards are grounded in IFRS S1 and S2 – the new global baseline for sustainability accounting, adopted by, or under consideration in, more than 30 major economies, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, the EU, India, Japan, Singapore, South Africa and the UK.
These frameworks require companies to disclose sustainability-related information with the same rigour and assurance as financial data, covering emissions, resilience, transition plans and other factors that materially influence cash flows, cost of capital and long-term value.
For the hospitality sector, one of the world’s most capital-intensive and climate-exposed asset classes, this shift is decisive. Transparent, comparable data is increasingly influencing how projects are financed, how insurance is priced and how investors assess risk.
Professor Marc Lepere, head of ESG and Sustainability at King’s Business School, added: “Our research shows that the absence of clear, sector-specific metrics is leaving investors unable to price sustainability risk with confidence. The proposed standards translate global reporting rules into a financial language that the capital markets understand, connecting sustainability performance directly to enterprise value.”
Laura Lee Blake, president & CEO, Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) commented: “The hospitality industry across the United States stands at a pivotal juncture, where investor expectations and guest demands are changing faster than ever. By engaging in this global consultation with the EEA Taskforce, we are helping ensure hotel owners can access capital, meet transparency demands, and compete on a truly global footing. I’m proud to support this initiative, which empowers our members to future-proof their assets and deliver better outcomes for guests and investors alike.”
“For all segments of the hotel industry, sustainability has become a central business consideration. Our members are implementing efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, saving millions of gallons of water annually, and keeping millions of pounds of plastics and food waste out of landfills each year,” said Rosanna Maietta, president & CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. “We’re pleased to partner with EEA on this new initiative. The EEA Task Force’s consultation is a significant milestone for our industry. It provides us with the opportunity to help shape the benchmark by which sustainability will be measured, and to ensure that reporting frameworks reflect the realities of global hospitality operations.”
Camilla Barretto, CEO, Brazilian Luxury Travel Association (BLTA), concluded: “Brazil’s hospitality and travel sector is intrinsically linked to our natural and cultural wealth—assets that are both precious and fragile. By participating in this global consultation, our industry is making sure that emerging markets such as ours have a seat at the table in setting the standards that will guide sustainable investment and growth for decades to come. I believe this effort will help ensure that the voice of Latin America is heard in the evolving agenda of global hospitality sustainability and reporting.”
A call to drive the standards that will shape the market
The consultation invites hotel investors, owners, asset managers, operators, lenders, developers and insurers worldwide to provide feedback on the proposed framework. Participants will help refine the metrics and disclosures that will form the basis of the final standards to be submitted to the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS) in 2026.
Why participate?
The EEA, AAHOA, AH&LA and BLTA encourage all stakeholders in the hospitality sector to participate because these standards will influence how their business and their capital are assessed. Engaging in the consultation allows them to:
- Ensure the standards are practical, credible and aligned with commercial reality
- Influence how sustainability affects financing terms, valuations and insurance
- Demonstrate leadership in shaping the industry’s transition to climate-ready, audit-grade, investor-ready reporting.
Next steps
The consultation remains open until 28 February 2026.