Kempinski Hotels has introduced a suite of new tools developed by scientific benchmarking and certification group EarthCheck to help meeting and event planners assess the environmental impact of their events.
The initiative, known as Responsible Meetings & Events by Kempinski, includes VenueCheck, a meetings management system that provides organisers with a checklist of actionable items to help reduce the environmental impact of events; and EventCalculator, which provides an “accurate" estimate for an event’s total carbon footprint.
The CO2 calculator includes factors such as energy consumption, water use and waste generation, based on third-party audited data from the property, as well as emissions from transportation, food and beverage consumption and accommodation, according to the companies.
VenueCheck, meanwhile, also provides hotels and other meeting venues with a verified sustainability management framework tailored to individual meeting spaces. In order to participate in VenueCheck, hotels must already hold EarthCheck certification.
“We are proud to be working with EarthCheck, our long-term sustainability partner, to launch Responsible Meetings & Events by Kempinski… by providing event planners with a framework allowing them to calculate the potential environmental impact of their events, we are empowering them to make positive changes to the world,” said Kempinski Group CEO, Barbara Muckermann.
Both VenueCheck and EventCalculator are aligned with the recently updated ISO 20121 standard for event sustainability management systems, according to the companies. While event planners can access the tools directly via EarthCheck, Kempinski is the first hotel group to embed these as part of their own M&E offering and collaborated with the certification firm on their development.
At present, 18 Kempinski hotels have achieved VenueCheck verification and an additional 12 are in progress. By the end of 2025, Kempinski hopes all 43 of its EarthCheck-certified hotels will have enrolled in the programme.
EarthCheck CEO and founder Stewart Moore, added: “Having worked extensively with Kempinski to advise on sustainability and award a growing number of Kempinski hotels with EarthCheck-certified status, we are thrilled to be collaborating on this next step in the journey towards a more sustainable future for the global meetings and events industry.”