NLBEFR

Platform on hotelmanagement, interiordesign and design in the Netherlands
Is all certification really that sustainable?

Is all certification really that sustainable?

Green certification

Sustainability is also here to stay in the hospitality industry. Green certification cleverly plays into this. But how do you know that a certifier is truly sustainable and not greenwashing? Hotels are sometimes confused by companies offering certification services.

To shed light on this, Green Partner investigated how green certification works in hotels and how hoteliers can find out whether or not their hotel's certification falls under greenwashing. In other words, are they really sustainable?

Green Partner's research focuses exclusively on the Dutch hotel market. "We noticed a high level of confusion when choosing a certification," says Andres Fellenberg Van der Molen, director of Green Partner. He is a leading auditor in several green certification programmes and ISO standards, as well as external expert for the European Commission, former technical director of the GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council) and lead auditor at bodies accredited to provide certification services in the Netherlands and Europe.

Correct definition

"There is a limited range of green certifications in the Netherlands, with some being more prominent and better positioned than others," said Fellenberg Van der Molen. "However, a well-known or popular certification does not mean that they also do the certification process well. The first thing that needs clarification is the definition of certification and the process of obtaining an official document as proof that something has been achieved or done. According to the director, this uncertainty starts at this point: "Who issues the certification? Who checks whom? Are all the processes transparent enough? How do I know if my hotel is certified by a body or company authorised to certify?"

JOS1882 1 0001 0001
Andres Fellenberg Van der Molen.

Not consciously

Any company can set up a certification programme and the hotel industry has hundreds of certifications. Green Partner's research focuses only on certifications operating in the Dutch hotel market, which have a different level of transparency because there are regulations and controls that a certification body in the Netherlands should theoretically comply with. "In many cases, they don't! Unfortunately, hotels were not aware of this or were not adequately informed before making the decision." 

Criteria

A hotel certification programme may have criteria that match the requirements of the GSTC. Yet the criteria are only GSTC Recognised. This means the audit and the process and quality of the auditors are not thoroughly evaluated. "The GSTC has no jurisdiction and the certification body can do what it wants with the certification processes. But also define itself and decide who audits, how they conduct audits, how they report, and decide on the rigour or flexibility applied. In this way, quality assurance and transparency are called into question."

Rigorous assessment

To audit management systems, a certification body in the Netherlands must undergo a rigorous assessment and be approved by the Dutch Accreditation Council (RvA). Fellenberg Van der Molen says: "A certificate is only legitimate if a Dutch certification body conducting the audit is RvA-accredited. If a certification body is international outside the Netherlands or the EU, it must be accredited by an accreditation body that is part of the IAF-MultiLateral Agreement (MLA) respectively. If this is not the case, the transparency of the audit process and ultimately the certification itself may be questioned. The new EU directive on Green Claims emphasises the scope of the audit, the criteria and who conducts the audit. The certification process should be transparent and only audited by an independent, accredited body. 

The EU directive also does not accept certifications that use an Aggregated Score method. An aggregated score consists of several smaller scores that are added together. This method is not accepted, meaning that your hotel either does or does not meet the criteria, not just a little. Your hotel may not only meet a percentage or minimum points to achieve a certification or certification level.

Key points

If you want to know if your own certification is transparent with regard to Green Claims or indeed accredited to conduct audits, here are the points a hotelier should consider.

1. Check whether the accreditation body accrediting your certification body is listed in the International Accreditation Forum (IAF.) Ask your certification body by whom they are accredited and find the name on the IAF's website.

2. Check whether the certification body conducting the audit is listed as an accreditation body. Check the IAF or RvA webpage.

3. Ensure that the auditor conducting the audit has the competence and qualifications to be an auditor, and is officially registered with an accredited certification body.

4. Verify that the hotel's consulting firm is independent of the certification process without any conflict of interest.

5. Check that your hotel's certification programme does not use Aggregated Scoring.

"If any of these points cannot be clarified with concrete evidence, we can conclude that the hotel should take strict and swift measures against greenwashing so as not to damage the image of your hotel," says Fellenberg Van der Molen.

"*" indicates required fields

Send us a message

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Wij gebruiken cookies. Daarmee analyseren we het gebruik van de website en verbeteren we het gebruiksgemak.

Details

Kunnen we je helpen met zoeken?