Dubai, UAE; January 6, 2019: Emaar Hospitality Group, the hospitality and leisure business of global developer Emaar Properties and the Expo 2020 Dubai Official Hotel & Hospitality Partner, has launched a strenuous sustainability campaign, The Pearl Pledge, to save water and marine resources.

The Pearl Pledge seeks to promote the awareness of protecting and conserving the oceans, and the switch to sustainable water, energy and resource management practices across all the hotels, serviced residences, restaurants and leisure attractions of Emaar Hospitality Group.

Olivier Harnisch, CEO of Emaar Hospitality Group, said: "As the Official Hotel & Hospitality Partner of Expo 2020 Dubai, we are committed to upholding the values that make the global event relevant to the whole of humanity. With sustainability as one of the sub-themes of Expo 2020 Dubai, the launch of The Pearl Pledge aligns all our operations in line with its spirit. Our new campaign also supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 14, which aim to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water, and conserve oceans, seas and marine resources, respectively.

Over the years, we have continuously rolled out green initiatives to manage and optimise water, energy and resource use efficiency. The Pearl Pledge takes our focus on going green to the next level by fostering the participation of guests, staff and partners in promoting sustainable water use and strengthening awareness on the need to conserve our ocean and marine resources" he continued.

Emaar Hospitality Group has partnered with the recently rebranded environmental conservation organisation Emirates Nature-WWF to maintain and shield the natural environment.

At the launch of The Pearl Pledge, Emaar Hospitality Group went on to introduce its partnership with Dubai Sustainable Tourism (DST) to initiate DST's 'Hospitality Industry Board Game,' established in collaboration with Emirates Nature-WWF, for all employees. This will help them to measure their consumption baseline, understand which areas of the hotel have significant water and electricity consumption and how to save money while lowering consumption of water, energy and other resources.

Emaar Hospitality Group belongs to the global Green Key programme, a top criterion of quality in the field of environmental responsibility as well as sustainable operations in the tourism industry. With the turn out of The Pearl Pledge, the leading hospitality group also aims to attain Green Key accreditation for all its hotels.

Emaar Hospitality Group will involve with the green goals drawn out by UAE Vision 2021, the UAE Green Growth Strategy, the Dubai Plan 2021, and the Dubai Demand Side Management Strategy and henceforth adhere to best practices outlined by Emirates Nature-WWF. The immediate goals are to decrease the consumption of water across its hotels by 30 per cent and energy consumption by 25 per cent, both by 2021. The Group also intends to reduce the amount of waste through the 4R approach refusing, reducing, reusing and recycling.

Every member of the Emaar Hospitality Group will be duty-bound to The Pearl Pledge with a clear communication framework, cultural integration best practices and the formation of on-the-ground and operational steering teams currently being set in place," added Harnisch. "Within a year, we aim to achieve significant operational cost savings through water, waste and energy management."

Emaar Hospitality Group intends to cut down on water intake in all its resorts through a reliable towel/linen programme as well as the inculcation of brand-new technologies. Energy usage will be managed by replacing all incandescent light bulbs with LEDs, integrated with the use of electric vehicles and solar energy. The waste reduction programme ideates to divert 75 per cent of waste from landfill with an effective waste-reduction strategy. Many hotels under the Group have in fact already started off with the Winnow system to measure and manage food waste.

Yousuf Lootah, Executive Director Tourism Development & Investments, Dubai Tourism, said "Guided by the future-focused vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to transform Dubai into a sustainable environmental destination, the Dubai Sustainable Tourism initiative is a key driver for ensuring the ongoing development of the industry. An essential aspect of ensuring the realisation of our objectives is the strength of Dubai's public-private sector partnerships, and we endorse programmes such as The Pearl Pledge, which encourage hotels and hospitality establishments to evaluate their processes, and make tangible improvements to their consumption and waste programmes."

Mr Lootah added: "As we come together to focus our energy on conservation, we are pleased to support Emaar Hospitality Group's efforts to foster more environmentally friendly practices within their business, reflecting the mutual goal of protecting and preserving the emirate for future generations."

Planned sustainability at the Groups hotels also aims to include practices such as decreasing the number of plastic bottles as well as the quantity of paper printed, while effectively distinguishing waste into plastics, aluminium or metals, paper or cardboard, or organic waste. The Group will adopt an accountable procurement programme that covers using environment-friendly paper and naturally degradable disposables while limiting the use of straws. All participants of the team will be trained to manage energy, water and also waste consumption baselines.