-
German Hotels Brace for Tighter Eco-Certification, Combatting Greenwashing – Image Credit Unsplash+
- Germany introduces stringent criteria for hotels to earn eco-certification, aiming to curb greenwashing and align with the EU’s Green Claims Directive.
- Hotels are making significant efforts to meet these new requirements, but critics question if enough is being done to meet the EU’s climate certification standards.
Germany is introducing stricter certification criteria for hotels to substantiate their climate commitments, marking a significant move against greenwashing. This comes in response to the new Green Claims Directive, which will take effect in September 2026 and aims to ban misleading environmental claims across the European Union. Hotels are required to comply with these new rules by March 2026.
The new regulations will require hotels to provide detailed evidence of emission reductions from energy consumption, waste disposal, and other sources. Only about 15% of German hotels openly display their climate commitments through certification, significantly less than the 30% of French hotels with eco-certification.
The German hospitality sector is trying to stay ahead of the new EU ban on greenwashing. Hotels must demonstrate emission reduction measures in their supply chains and set long-term reduction targets. For instance, the Aramis Conference & Sports Hotel recently met recertification criteria by conducting a comprehensive analysis of its carbon footprint and detailing its emission reduction measures and offsets.
Despite these efforts, questions arise about whether more could be done to meet the EU’s climate certification requirements. The EU emphasizes offsets but aims to rule out loopholes, such as financing emission-reduction projects overseas without reducing emissions domestically.
German hotels must be certified by the EU or an EU-approved body, which is expected to lead to a surge in audits. The Landgut Stober, a conference hotel near Berlin, emphasizes transparency in their sustainability efforts, publishing its CO2 balances and all third-party certification reports.
While some German hotels continue to make significant strides towards sustainability, the majority are only now starting their journey. Moritz Lehmkuhl, founder and managing director of ClimatePartner, states that reaching net-zero emissions should be the global goal for the hospitality industry.
Discover more at CoStar.
