SustainabilityOnline recently published its inaugural ‘Ambition Into Action’ report, featuring interviews with senior leaders about how they are turning sustainability vision into business reality at the mid-point of the decade.
Inge Huijbrechts is Chief Sustainability and Security Officer at Radisson Hotel Group, overseeing sustainability and safety programmes across more than 1,500 hotels around the world, as well as leading the group’s Responsible Business strategy. In 2022, she helped launch the Hotel Sustainability Basics initiative, supported by industry bodies representing over 50,000 hotels.
How has Radisson Hotel Group moved from ‘ambition to action’ in turning sustainability into a core value driver – in other words, how have you made sustainability ‘good for business’?
Besides working on the fundamental decarbonisation process to become net zero by 2050, Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) has integrated sustainability into the guest value proposition by pairing rigorous, measurable targets with market-leading innovations and customer-facing solutions.
In 2025, RHG launched the award-winning Verified Net Zero Hotels (Manchester City Centre and Oslo City Centre), an industry innovation. The approach is unique, includes Scope 3 operational emissions, based on the industry backed Net Zero Methodology for Hotels, and is verified by a third party.
These properties are not just technical achievements; they are commercial differentiators that attract corporate bookers, sustainability-minded travellers and media attention — about 20% of guests say they booked these hotels because they offer a zero carbon stay. Verified Net Zero hotels save costs and generate more revenue, so they are definitely good for business.
In addition, RHG’s industry-leading carbon-compensated meetings create a global meeting offering based on sustainability and meet business clients’ procurement needs for lower-impact events. Based on gold standard and VCS credits, we have offset 115,000 tCO₂e offset since we launched the programme in 2019 — equivalent to removing around 26,800 petrol cars from the road.
Also, RHG is a key partner in WTTC’s Hotel Sustainability Basics and WSHA’s Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality, positioning the group at the centre of buyer and investor conversations and increasing corporate RFP success.
We’re now at the mid point of the decade. What do you see as the single biggest barrier for businesses in moving from ambition to measurable action – and how can it be overcome?
The combination of verified targets, data platforms, commercial products and aligned incentives is what converts ambition into consistent, measurable action.
One of the biggest barriers to decarbonising our hotel portfolio faster is turning high-level climate ambition into operational reality across a fast-growing global portfolio, especially in emerging markets where ESG regulation and awareness are still developing.
Building or converting a Verified Net Zero hotel requires deep, measurable operational changes – and scaling that is even harder when smaller or individual asset owners can’t access financing for decarbonisation. Most green funding today is built for large industrial or commercial real estate projects, not the much smaller ticket sizes hotels need.
To move from ambition to measurable action, the industry needs fit-for-purpose financing for hotel retrofits – especially in emerging markets – so every property can participate in the net zero transition.
We need the finance community to understand and love hotel decarbonisation, stimulated by a growing regulatory push in emerging markets towards greener buildings & energy systems.
What role can (and should) leadership play in ensuring sustainability commitments actually deliver results, rather than remaining aspirational? And how can you ensure buy-in from all stakeholders?
To make big strides forward on ambitious sustainability commitments, like our SBTi approved mid-term and Net Zero 2050 targets, it’s essential to make sustainability part of the company strategy.
At Radisson Hotel Group, we have transformed our company based on rolling ‘5 Year Plans’, encompassing company-wide initiatives underpinned by clear KPIs, which are checked every six months.
Sustainability is one of those 5 Year Plan initiatives; and it appears in many of the other initiatives in food and beverage, technical services, operational excellence, digital platforms etc.
In addition, at RHG we benefit from a pioneering spirit: we’re often the ones who try out or launch concepts first. We were the first to have an environmental policy in 1989, the first to introduce free wifi in our hotels and now, the first to prove that Verified Net Zero can be done – especially in a conversion and operational context.
In this pioneering concept, we cooperated with many teams – from technical services, to food & beverage, operations, branding, revenue optimisation, asset management, and of course procurement. It is an amazing cross-company achievement that will inspire many more Verified Net Zero successes.
Learn more about Radisson Hotel Group’s sustainability commitments at www.radissonhotels.com/en-us/corporate/responsible-business/planet.
