
Saving the tourism industry millions of dollars in operational costs each year and reducing the planet’s energy, waste and water consumption has earned environmental management consultants EC3 Global a prestigious World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Earth Hour Award.EC3 Global, an Australian owned, international environmental management and advisory group, won the WWF Sustainable Small Business award last week, for their work in encouraging the tourism industry to take action to measure and reduce its environmental footprint.The award recognises the efforts of EC3 Global’s EarthCheck programme which adheres to the United Nation’s Agenda 21 principals for sustainable development.This year Agenda 21 celebrates its 20th birthday. Agenda 21 was established as a global call to action to protect and safeguard our environment. EarthCheck is now used by tourism operators in over 70 countries worldwide and has become the world’s leading scientific benchmarking and certification program dedicated to meeting the sustainability principles laid down in Rio De Janeiro.EarthCheck’s certification and benchmarking gives the travel and tourism industry a science-based approach to increase efficiencies, maximise guest experience and minimise their environmental footprint.EC3 Global CEO Stewart Moore said if the environmental footprint made by the world tourism industry was compared to the footprint of a country then tourism would be the fifth biggest polluter worldwide.“Tourism provides about 9 percent of the world’s income and employs more than 10 percent of the world’s workforce. CO2 emissions generated directly from the tourism sector account for approximately 5% of global carbon emissions which is greater than the emissions generated by some countries,” said Mr Moore.“For the past 12 years, we have worked with both enterprises and communities in Australia and across the world to help them to address the twin challenges of climate change and reducing their environmental footprint. We are amazed every day by the innovative solutions our clients are achieving.WWF CEO Dermot O’Gorman said the WWF Earth Awards recognise the inspiring environmental contributions of Australians.“When you consider the profound challenges the planet is facing, it can occasionally seem overwhelming but here we have individuals taking action every day of the year to ensure a better future for our planet,” said Mr O’Gorman.Further information:patrick.renouard@earthcheck.orgABOUT EC3 GLOBAL: EC3 Global is an international tourism and environmental management and advisory group providing leading edge, evidence based, sustainability solutions. The company works with enterprises, destinations and communities to plan, manage and achieve business, development and marketing objectives; set and achieve sustainability goals with a triple-bottom-line focus; and implement programs to achieve these objectives. www.ec3global.com