PARIS—Gilles Pélisson, director and CEO of Accor, and Michèle Pappalardo, president of France’s Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME), signed a third framework agreement to expand their joint programs in six areas: renewable energy development, energy management, waste prevention/management, international cooperation, communication and eco-design. The new three-year agreement will allow the partners to build on existing projects, with the long-term goal of stimulating other initiatives in the hotel business.
With ADEME’s backing, 100 new Accor hotels will be fitted with solar panels, bringing the number of Accor establishments equipped worldwide to 200 by 2010. Under a broad plan, ADEME will help Accor identify and implement energy savings measures at its French hotels and introduce a waste reduction program following an audit conducted by Accor. The initiatives will then be deployed in Morocco, Tunisia, China, India and other countries where Accor is experiencing rapid growth.
Underscoring Accor’s commitment alongside ADEME to enhancing customer and employee awareness of environmental concerns, the new pact also helps create awareness among the general public about the advantages of renewable energy. Ever since the first two framework agreements were signed in 2000 and 2003, Accor and ADEME have been working together to reduce the hotel industry’s impact on the environment.
Accor, ADEME Renew Commitment
With encouraging results in the field of waste prevention/management, energy management and communication, the two partners decided to renew their agreement. With the help of ADEME, Accor has reduced the environmental impact of its operations over the last six years by:
• Installing solar energy collectors for producing hot water in 24 hotels and a photovoltaic system for generating electricity in one hotel (Ibis, Porte de Clichy).
• Conducting audits under ADEME’s “Reduce Waste by 10 percent” program, resulting in a significant reduction in waste and more efficient sorting at seven Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis, Etap Hotel and Formule 1 hotels in France.
• Building energy management awareness through a practical guide, “In hotels, as in the home, a few simple actions to conserve the environment” (100,000 copies in seven languages distributed throughout Accor hotels worldwide); and a film, “Together, Ever More Responsible.”
This partnership figures prominently in the Earth Guest program, a new sustainable development initiative deployed across the Group. The program is divided into two main sections: environmental stewardship (ECO) projects dealing with water, energy, waste and biodiversity, and social responsibility (EGO) projects focused on diet, health, child protection and local development.
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