The ministry of environment forests and climate change (MoEFCC) was represented by its additional secretary, Amandeep Garg who made a comprehensive and informative presentation on government’s initiative of LiFE (Lifestyle for environment) succinctly bringing out the many dimensions of the concept and also identifying how to implement it in the tourism sector.While the first panel discussion revolved around energy efficiency, reducing GHG emissions, renewable energy, and hospitality sector’s role in sustainability, circular economy, and water conservation was discussed in in the second panel. Ajay Bakaya , EC member HAI and managing director of Sarovar Hotels chaired the first panel and the other panels was chaired by the vice chair for South Asia of the GSTC CB Ramkumar. Domain experts from travel and tourism shared best practices and discussed the road ahead on sustainability including roadblocks and challenges.Speaking on the occasion, K.B. Kachru, president HAI and chairman – South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group, while reiterating HAI’s commitment to responsible tourism emphasised collaboration among stakeholders, industry and government as the key to success. Investment in training and resources that empower hotels to progress on their respective journeys of sustainability is the other factor that will drive India to its goals of Net zero, he said.The highlight of the Event was the HAI pledge for Life administered by the association’s vice president, Rohit Khosla, executive vice president (Operations) IHCL in which Members committed to make all efforts to make their hotels net zero by 2050 well ahead of the government target of making India net zero by 2070.It was a happy coincidence that HAI and GSTC were able to ink a memorandum of understanding at the Event. The MoU is a partnership between the two organisations to create awareness and promote sustainability and the certification thereof among HAI member hotels.HAI will continue to demonstrate its commitment to SDGs through progressive action by its members and through initiatives, partnerships and collaborations, the release added.
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