Ritz-Carlton joins UN to make impact

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co has become the first founding partner of IMPACT 2030: The Global Initiative for the Advancement of Corporate Volunteering, which was launched on International Volunteer Day last Friday.

IMPACT 2030 is a global collaboration between the United Nations and the global business community to mobilize corporate volunteers to help achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

It is the only global business-led effort to harness the power of employees volunteering to address the UN's goals. And it is the first time that companies will unite to address UN development goals.

The sustainable development goals are one of the main outcomes of the Rio+20 conference in 2012. The UN will launch a drive in September 2015 that will focus on the world's critical social and environmental issues, including ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, fighting climate change and protecting oceans and forests.

Together with IBM, SAP, UPS, La Caixa and Google, Ritz-Carlton is an initial partner company of IMPACT 2030. The companies have recognized that a commitment to corporate volunteering－when used in concert with the UN, peer companies and philanthropic and nonprofit organizations－is a powerful tool to address critical social and environmental issues and inspire the private sector to positive action.

Commitment to sustainable development is already a theme for the hotel industry, according to the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, a consulting firm based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

The hotel industry has a large impact on the environment, and it is a common practice for the industry to be environmentally friendly, the institute said in a report.

Herve Humler, president and chief operations officer of Ritz-Carlton, said: "Through IMPACT 2030, the power of many will ... allow us to impact the world.

"In communities where we do business, we will be collaborating with corporate partners and other stakeholders to help address critical issues."

Ritz-Carlton has its own social and environmental responsibility program, known as Community Footprints, covering three areas: hunger and poverty relief, the wellbeing of children and environmental responsibility.

On International Volunteer Day, the Community Footprints teams at Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Resorts all over the world participated in volunteer activities in their communities and the teams reached out to 100 communities in 28 countries and territories worldwide.

Volunteers from the Ritz-Carlton Chengdu helped maintain the facilities at their Community Footprints partner organization－the Chengdu Panda Base, a research and breeding facility for giant pandas and other rare animals.

At the Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong, employees prepared and distributed more than 1,200 lunch boxes in support of the Hong Chi Association, a nonprofit organization in Hong Kong that helps people of all ages with intellectual disabilities.