The Energy & Environment Alliance (EEA), a global coalition representing over 50,000 hotels and hospitality and property funds worth £360 billion, has announced the launch of a global public consultation to create the first financially meaningful sustainability accounting standards for the hotel and accommodation sector.
The initiative, led by the EEA Hospitality Sustainability Standards Working Group, in partnership with King’s Business School, aims to develop audit-grade transparency and disclosure standards that investors, fund managers, lenders and operators can rely on to assess the risk, performance and long-term value of assets.
“Sustainability performance now directly impacts the way assets are financed, insured and valued. The question for our industry is not whether to disclose, but how to do so in a commercially smart, credible and internationally comparable way,” said Ufi Ibrahim, founder and CEO of the EEA.
New financial infrastructure for hospitality
The proposed standards build on IFRS S1 and S2, the new global framework for sustainability accounting, which has already been adopted or is under consideration in more than 30 countries, including Australia, Canada, the EU, India, Japan, South Africa and the UK.
These frameworks require companies to disclose sustainability information with the same rigour and reliability as their financial data, covering issues such as emissions, resilience, transition plans and other factors that materially impact cash flow, cost of capital and long-term value.
Professor Marc Lepere, Head of ESG and Sustainability at King’s Business School, explained:
“The absence of clear, sector-specific indicators leaves investors without the ability to assess sustainability risk with certainty. The proposed standards translate international reporting rules into a financial language that capital markets understand, directly linking sustainability performance to business value.”
The global hotel community’s perspective
Laura Lee Blake, president and CEO of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), noted that the U.S. hospitality industry is at a pivotal point as investor and guest expectations are changing faster than ever:
“Participating in the consultation ensures that hoteliers can access capital, meet transparency requirements, and compete globally.”
Similarly, Rosanna Maietta, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), emphasized that sustainability is now a core business:
“Our members are reducing their carbon footprint, saving millions of gallons of water, and diverting millions of pounds of plastic and waste from landfills. Working with the EEA is critical to shaping the standards that will define how sustainability is measured in hospitality.”
From Latin America, Camilla Barretto, CEO of the Brazilian Luxury Travel Association (BLTA), noted:
“Tourism in Brazil is inextricably linked to our natural and cultural wealth – resources that are precious but fragile. By participating in the consultation, we ensure that emerging markets have a place at the table in setting global standards for sustainable development and investment.”
Consultation on standards that will define the market
The EEA consultation invites hotel investors, owners, asset managers, operators, lenders, developers and insurers around the world to contribute with comments and suggestions.
The results will determine the final measurements and disclosures, which will be submitted to the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS) in 2026.
Participants will have the opportunity to:
- ensure that the standards are practical, reliable and aligned with commercial reality,
- influence how sustainability shapes financing, valuation and insurance terms,
- and demonstrate leadership in the global hospitality transition to investment-grade sustainability accounting.
