MEININGER Hotels, a hybrid hotel and hostel group with over 30 locations across Europe, commissioned Nordic Sustainability to create a robust sustainability baseline and prepare for the upcoming legislative requirements. This project encompassed two key phases: a comprehensive Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory and a Double Materiality Assessment (DMA).
Project overview
In preparation for evolving sustainability standards, MEININGER partnered with Nordic Sustainability to initially develop an SBTi-aligned GHG Inventory, following guidance from the GHG protocol. A custom tool was later developed to enable effective data visualisation and easy adaptation for future GHG inventories.
We conducted a climate communication workshop as a conclusion to the GHG inventory to assist the company in disclosing its climate impact and complying with upcoming European legislation (e.g. CSRD, Green Claims Directive, etc.). To further advance MEININGER’s CSRD readiness, a Double Materiality Assessment was carried out. This assessment analysed the hotel group’s entire value chain (upstream, internal, and downstream activities) from both an impact materiality and financial materiality perspective. The findings helped identify the main material topics MEININGER will be required to report on.
Building on the DMA results, the team conducted a data gap assessment to evaluate where the company has available data for reporting on its material topics and where data gaps remain. This was done for all the data points they must include in their sustainability statement.
Our approach
The project was structured into two phases:
- Greenhouse Gas Inventory
- Double Materiality Assessment
Greenhouse Gas Inventory
During the project’s first phase, Nordic Sustainability developed a comprehensive GHG inventory. The inventory covered Scope 1, 2, and 3 for MEININGER’s 39 entities across 11 European countries and the company’s offices.
We assisted MEININGER Hotels in mapping all their emissions covering Scope 1, 2, and 3 across 36 hotels and 3 offices.
This phase started with a data collection process bolstered by a capacity-building workshop designed to implement efficient data-gathering mechanisms to support the GHG inventory. We have then developed a customised tool that facilitates emissions breakdown according to different industry-relevant parameters (e.g., emissions per room/night). The tool incorporated several data visualisation capabilities to ease comprehension and re-modellation of data for future GHG inventory.
To conclude this phase, Nordic Sustainability conducted a workshop for relevant MEININGER stakeholders to empower climate disclosure, presenting relevant legislative frameworks and best practices for reporting and marketing-based communication.
Double Materiality Assessment
The second phase, including the DMA process and the subsequent data gap assessment, was executed through several structured steps.
We leveraged our Double Materiality Assessment to evaluate MEININGER’s entire value chain and stakeholder landscape.
We kicked off with a preparatory step, during which data regarding MEININGER was collected. We then mapped the client’s value chain and stakeholder landscape to gain a thorough understanding of the business operations and the groups involved, ensuring impacts could be identified accurately. Building upon this, impacts, risks, and opportunities were identified from both an impact and financial perspective.
Once the DMA was conducted, the findings were validated with MEININGER’s core team. The data gap assessment was then carried out, drawing on the DMA results to highlight areas for future improvement.
The final step was a workshop where the results and recommendations were presented to the company.
Result
Our collaboration with MEININGER Hotels yielded a comprehensive suite of deliverables across two project phases. This equipped the company with robust tools for sustainability management and reporting. As part of the first project phase, MEININGER received:
- A GHG inventory, along with the Excel GHG calculation tool
- Detailed methodology document describing the process and the assumptions made
- Final C-suite presentation
- A climate communication training.
In the second phase, MEININGER was provided the following key deliverables:
- Excel-based DMA tool containing all the research details, stakeholder inputs, and scoring rationales
- Data gap tool, which included the assessment and the capability to update it and use it to identify data owners and data locations.
- A project report which outlined the key aspects of the project process and the assessment’s findings, along with forward-looking recommendations.
By undertaking this project, MEININGER has positioned itself to meet upcoming sustainability reporting requirements and strengthen its commitment to environmental stewardship in the hospitality sector.
We could not have wished for a better partner than Nordic Sustainability for the realisation of our first Corporate Carbon Footprint and Double Materiality Assessment. Through our close collaboration, we have identified key hot spots, risks and opportunities within our operational areas and along our value chain that we want to address. At the same time, we were able to deepen our internal expertise in data collection and plan to continue improving the quality of our data. The results are an ideal basis for working with our departments to develop measures and targets for how we can build our climate transition plan and our corporate sustainability strategy in the long term. With their passion and extensive knowledge of sustainability, Nordic Sustainability has enabled us to set a strong course for our future.