Amsterdam. Innovation means investing in green meetings. The Netherlands is at the forefront and when it comes to CO2-neutral business meetings, more and more options are being offered. Travel to and from the Netherlands can be as green as the traveller wants. First of all, there is the central location that grants the Netherlands points when it comes to CO2 calculations for corporate meetings. All the available and varied options help as well. A lot of investments are being made into Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, in order to achieve CO2-neutral operations by 2012 and to ensure that 20 percent of the energy used is sustainable. This makes it increasingly easier to travel ‘green’ by plane.
Railway, which has always been an environmentally friendly transportation alternative, takes visitors from surrounding countries to centrally located railway locations in the Netherlands within a few hours. And upon reaching their destination, the genuinely green minded visitor travels by bicycle of course! Hotels and convention centres in the Netherlands are increasingly investing in the Green Key. Currently, 450 companies in the tourism and recreation industry have earned this international eco-rating.
Many convention centres and hotels, including NH hotels all over the country, have even earned the highest achievable Green Key rating: Gold Level. The Green Globe is also on the rise in the Netherlands. Amsterdam RAI is one of the venues that has earned this rating: due to their policy with regard to personnel and socially responsible entrepreneurship and the way in which the organisation processes waste, water and energy.
Various PCOs, DMCs and venues now use a CO2 calculator to calculate the total CO2 emissions of meetings, so that optimal compensation can be provided. The Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions introduced such a CO2 calculator in autumn 2009. This calculation will also take into account the CO2 emissions that are the result of the production of meeting related brochures and other handouts and giveaways.
