Watch the webinar: ESG in hotel investment and finance

We are delighted to share a link to the round table discussion we held In November in partnership with Boutique Hotel News (BHN). Hosted by BHN editor Eloise Hanson, panellists included Siobhan Cross, partner, Pinsent Masons;  Katrina Craig, CEO, Hotel Solutions Partnership and Robert Adamczyk, senior sustainability advisor, EBRD.

The panel explored how to plan for reform and meet the ESG demands of lenders, investors, and consumers. A poll conducted during the broadcast with viewers gave the opinion that change is being driven by investors and governments, thoughts echoed by the panel.

Siobhan Cross, partner, Pinsent Masons, discussed the impact of new building regulations and standards on both new builds and retrofits by 2025. Plus, the  challenges of not knowing exactly what the final position will be and the likelihood of the introduction of carbon taxes or corporation taxes based on the sustainability of buildings.

Robert Adamczyk, senior sustainability advisor at EBRD, advises that energy – whether from a renewable source or not – is going to be a key consideration for operators in the future, even beyond recent hikes in prices. He also stresses that future financing will  consider the lowest risk and this analysis will include ESG issues, so international agreement of standard setting will be key moving forward.

Katrina Craig, CEO, Hotel Solutions Partnership concluded, “It is apparent that although the larger hotel groups are aware of what’s coming, the smaller independents will need support on their ESG compliance journey and how to access green finance.  HSP are perfectly positioned to help with strategy, goal setting, tracking performance, computing the ROI from sustainability projects and of course communicating to consumers and stakeholders”.