Nuga Gama, fondly referred to as the ‘Village in the City’ has been certified Asia’s first CarbonNeutral® venue. The CarbonNeutral® Certification was presented by the Carbon Consulting Company and further endorsed by 2007 Nobel Co-Laureate, Climatologist and Vice Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Professor Mohan Munasinghe. Since its inception in 2009, Nuga Gama has striven to imbue an eco-friendly milieu into its overarching concept, and continued to introduce pioneering sustainable green initiatives.
Rohan Karr, General Manager, Cinnamon Grand on receiving the certification said, “Cinnamon Grand has always been aware of its environmental responsibility and has consistently implemented ‘green’ initiatives that impact the larger environment and community within which it functions. By achieving the first CarbonNeutral® venue accreditation in Asia, we are ideally positioned to give customers what they want in terms of being environmentally responsible and to meet their requirements for a green and sustainable space in Sri Lanka.”
Prof Mohan Munasinghe opined that this is a “landmark achievement for the Sri Lankan tourism industry and the achievement of this significant Green Milestone is yet another indication of the Cinnamon Grand’s continuous commitment to push the boundaries of sustainability practices in the local hospitality industry.”
To achieve CarbonNeutral® status, Nuga Gama’s greenhouse gas emissions which were completely offset against carbon credits, amounted to the venue’s carbon emissions being quantified as ‘Net Zero’, which Sanith de S Wijeyeratne, Chief Operating Officer – Carbon Consulting Company states, is the next best to being quantified as ‘
Zero Emission’.
Cinnamon Grand is already in pursuance of its journey to achieve a vision of reducing its carbon footprint by an ambitious 10 percent annually and to be the greenest five star city hotel in Sri Lanka by 2015.
