London, 21 October 2025

The Energy & Environment Alliance (EEA), a global coalition, whose members
represent more than 50,000 hotels and £360 billion in hospitality and real-estate
capital, today launched a worldwide consultation on the establishment of the
first financially material sustainability accounting standards for the hotels and lodging
sector.

The initiative, led by the EEA Taskforce on Hotels & Lodging Sustainability
Accounting Standards, in collaboration with King’s Business School, aims to
create audit-grade disclosure standards that investors, asset managers, lenders and
operators can rely on to evaluate risk, performance and long-term asset value.

“Sustainability performance now directly affects how assets are financed, insured
and valued,” said Ufi Ibrahim, Founder and Chief Executive of the EEA. “The
question for our industry is no longer whether we disclose – but how we do so in a
way that is commercially intelligent, credible and comparable across markets. This
consultation is shaping the way the future is being built.”

The new financial infrastructure for hospitality

The proposed standards are grounded in IFRS S1 and S2 – the new global baseline
for sustainability accounting, adopted by, or under consideration in, more than 30
major economies, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, the EU, India, Japan,
Singapore, South Africa and the UK.

These frameworks require companies to disclose sustainability-related information
with the same rigour and assurance as financial data, covering emissions, resilience,
transition plans and other factors that materially influence cash flows, cost of capital
and long-term value.

For the hospitality sector, one of the world’s most capital-intensive and climate-
exposed asset classes, this shift is decisive. Transparent, comparable data is
increasingly influencing how projects are financed, how insurance is priced and how
investors assess risk.

Professor Marc Lepere, Head of ESG and Sustainability at King’s Business School,
added: “Our research shows that the absence of clear, sector-specific metrics is
leaving investors unable to price sustainability risk with confidence. The proposed
standards translate global reporting rules into a financial language that the capital
markets understand, connecting sustainability performance directly to enterprise
value.”

Laura Lee Blake, President & CEO, Asian American Hotel Owners Association
(AAHOA) commented: “The hospitality industry across the United States stands at a
pivotal juncture, where investor expectations and guest demands are changing faster
than ever. By engaging in this global consultation with the EEA Taskforce, we are
helping ensure hotel owners can access capital, meet transparency demands, and
compete on a truly global footing. I’m proud to support this initiative which empowers
our members to future-proof their assets and deliver better outcomes for guests and
investors alike.”

“For all segments of the hotel industry, sustainability has become a central business
consideration. Our members are implementing efforts to reduce their carbon
footprint, saving millions of gallons of water annually, and keeping millions of pounds
of plastics and food waste out of landfills each year,” said Rosanna Maietta,
President & CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. “We’re pleased to
partner with EEA on this new initiative. The EEA Task Force’s consultation is a
significant milestone for our industry. It provides us with the opportunity to help
shape the benchmark by which sustainability will be measured, and to ensure that
reporting frameworks reflect the realities of global hospitality operations.”

Camilla Barretto, CEO, Brazilian Luxury Travel Association (BLTA) concluded:
“Brazil’s hospitality and travel sector is intrinsically linked to our natural and cultural
wealth—assets that are both precious and fragile. By participating in this global
consultation, our industry is making sure that emerging markets such as ours have a
seat at the table in setting the standards that will guide sustainable investment and
growth for decades to come. I believe this effort will help ensure that the voice of
Latin America is heard in the evolving agenda of global hospitality sustainability and
reporting.”

A call to drive the standards that will shape the market

The consultation invites hotel investors, owners, asset managers, operators, lenders,
developers and insurers worldwide to provide feedback on the proposed framework.
Participants will help refine the metrics and disclosures that will form the basis of
the final standards to be submitted to the International Financial Reporting Standards
Foundation (IFRS) in 2026.

Why participate?

The EEA, AAHOA, AH&LA and BLTA encourage all stakeholders in the hospitality
sector to participate because these standards will influence how their business and
their capital are assessed. Engaging in the consultation allows them to:

  • Ensure the standards are practical, credible and aligned with commercial
    reality
  • Influence how sustainability affects financing terms, valuations and insurance
  • Demonstrate leadership in shaping the industry’s transition to climate ready,
    audit-grade, investor-ready reporting.

Next steps

The consultation remains open until 28 February 2026.

For further information and to contribute to the consultation:
https://www.eea.international/global-consultation/

For interviews and questions, please contact David Tarsh, +44 7770 816 070,
David@Tarsh.com.