Green Globe Company Standard
The Green Globe Company Standard - Underpinned by Earthcheck Science
The Green Globe Company Standard (Underpinned by Earthcheck Science) is designed for organisations within the travel and tourism industry and sets out the criteria to attain certification through EC3 Global.
Company Process
The Green Globe Company Standard (underpinned by Earthcheck Science) provides a framework to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the organisation’s environmental sustainability performance, through which they can monitor improvements and achieve certification.
The framework focuses on 10 Key Performance Areas including:
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Energy efficiency, conservation and management
- Management of freshwater resources
- Ecosystem conservation and management
- Management of social and cultural issues
- Land use planning and management
- Air Quality protection and noise control
- Waste water management
- Solid waste management
- Storage of environmentally harmful substances
Initially organisations benchmark their environmental and social performance annually against the Sector Benchmarking Indicators and must achieve above baseline performance to achieve Bronze Benchmarked status.
The assessment of indicator measures is based upon the outcome’s relation to baseline and best practice performance levels of environmental impact. Baseline is considered an above average standard of performance that should be attained or bettered as part of day-to-day business activity. Best practice is a reflection of outstanding performance that can be attained with careful implementation of practices and equipment.
The second form of benchmarks is an indicator checklist that breaks down certain activities of operation, such as cleaning products.
The Certification process varies depending on the size and environmental impact of the organization and delivers four levels of achievement recognition, being Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.
Note, the Green Globe program is not a ‘rating’ system, rather it recognises and rewards sustainable practice and continual performance.
Smaller companies with minimal environmental impact are required to complete a simple risk assessment (templates are provided through the online system) and web delivered Self Assessment checklist, while larger companies with potentially high impacts are required to complete more detailed versions of the same documents. In some cases, large organisations may have to implement an Environmental Management System (process template provided).
Once Certification Services have been undertaken, organisations are provided with a Certification Assessment Report which provides feedback of the organisation’s performance. The report outlines findings, opportunities for improvement, corrective actions and future audit requirements.
To achieve and retain Certified Silver status and qualify for Certified Gold status after five years & Certified Platinum status after ten years, an enterprise is required to undergo an onsite audit at least every two years. The audit is conducted by an independent, qualified third party auditor. EC3 Global approved auditors adhere to the principles and requirements of ISO 17021:2006, the international standard for certification bodies providing certification services of management systems.
