Hilton Worldwide’s second Sustainability Summit, which connects Hilton properties with local stakeholders to discuss sustainability issues, took place on March 25 at Hilton Sharjah after the success of last year’s inaugural event in Dubai.
Key figures from Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) and Bee’ah Environment and Waste Management came together to discuss best practice for enhancing environmental developments across the Sharjah community.
SCTDA’s guest speaker H. E. Khaled Al Midfa opened the summit commenting: “The emirate of Sharjah actively encourages all organisations to maintain a sustainable approach to the ways in which we all do business. Hilton Sharjah is playing an integral role in this effort by providing a platform for developing eco-solutions in the industry.”
“Sustainable energy is one of the most pressing issues of our time. Every effort that is made through platforms such as the Hilton Sustainability Summit, makes a real difference to our approach to eco-initiatives in the emirate.”
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Richard Gosling, general manager of Hilton Sharjah said: “This summit is a great opportunity to connect with Sharjah’s leading authorities to share best practice and further develop a culture of environmental consciousness in the Middle East.”
Vinesh Hurrychurn, director of engineering operations, Hilton Worldwide Middle East & Africa shared insights on environmental efforts across Hilton Worldwide hotels, which is the first major multi-brand hospitality company to make sustainability measurement a global brand standard.
One of these was LightStay, a proprietary measurement system developed by Hilton Worldwide to calculate and analyse sustainability performance across Hilton Worldwide hotels. Amongst some of the latest achievements were accumulated energy and water savings amounting to 17% and 16% respectively.
The summit also included a tour of Sharjah environmental waste management organisation, Bee’ah. Najib Faris, chief commercial officer, Bee’ah commented: “At Bee’ah, we are pioneering forward-thinking initiatives in an effort to achieve a zero- waste to landfill ratio in Sharjah by 2015, making Sharjah the first Arab city to divert 100% of its waste from landfill.
“The Hilton Sustainability Summit is setting the stage for the discussion of these important environmental measures as we aim to create a truly sustainable Sharjah.”
The summit is set to take place at Hilton Capital Grand Abu Dhabi next year as Hilton Worldwide continues to meet its global sustainability targets.
Sponsoring yesterday’s event were Diversey, Schneider Electric, Methven Showers and Organic Foods and Café
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