Ecological Modernization Motivates New York Hotels to Become Stakeholders in NYC Carbon Challenge

This past January, Shivani Vora of the New York Times reported on the decision by seventeen New York City-based hotels to join the NYC Carbon Challenge (Vora 2016). This initiative, established by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in 2007, and continued by the incumbent, Mayor Bill de Blasio, is one of New York City’s primary policy efforts toward the reduction of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions (Vora 2016). The city currently partners with universities, commercial and residential buildings, and hospitals; notably, the addition of these  high-profile hotels is the city’s first partnership with the hospitality industry. Moreover, this partnership is one that is expected to bring further prominence to the Challenge initiative, while also advancing the city’s sustainability efforts. The continued growth of the NYC Carbon Challenge, as demonstrated by the addition of these hotels, is the result of intentional partnerships between stakeholders, supported by the diffusion and adoption of environmental values.

The article reveals a number of stakeholders, from the municipal government to private businesses. New York City’s government is one primary stakeholder. Assuming the role of policy entrepreneur, former Mayor Bloomberg enacted the NYC Carbon Challenge, thereby positioning the municipal government to support and encourage environmental policy. The continuation of the challenge under Mayor de Blasio demonstrates the successful diffusion of the value of democratic pragmatism from Bloomberg’s administration. Democratic pragmatism emphasizes “flexibility, plurality, and experimentation with constant, open feedback,” which is put into practice via adaptive management (Smith). The Carbon Challenge is an example of adaptive management. It is not an enforced administrative policy; rather, it promotes the formation of public and private partnerships in order to work towards a common goal. This is also an example of collective action. Furthermore, in simply setting the guidelines for the Challenge, the initiative encourages its partners to engage with the process, and to decide for themselves the best way to “go green.”

The hospitality industry is another primary stakeholder. The hospitality industry is expansive, therefore, any major industry change will produce a ripple effect throughout itself and other industries. For example, the chairman of the Hotel Association of New York expresses his hope that the availability of green resources, such as environmental consultants in addition to the visibility of the hotels currently engaged in the challenge, will encourage the participation of additional association members (Vora 2016). Moreover, this example demonstrates the influence and importance of the private sector as a whole, and without it’s cooperation, the Carbon Challenge would be far less impactful. Ultimately, value systems motivated the hotels’ decision to participate in the Carbon Challenge. Each of the seventeen hotels ascribes to ecological modernization, a value system that promotes capitalism towards environmental ends. This perspective asserts that as environmental goods prove to be profitable, the free market will naturally encourage their production (Smith). These hotels are beginning to realize the profit opportunities associated with green products. Through the implementation of energy-saving technologies and environmentally friendly systems, the hotel can be more efficient and greatly reduce its total costs. As an overview, the efforts of the seventeen hotels combined “could reduce emissions by more than 32,000 metric tons and save $25 million of energy operating costs” (Vora 2016). Several of the hotels, including the Waldorf Astoria and the Westin New York, recognized the profitability of sustainable infrastructure much earlier (Vora 2016). They are now using their participation in the NYC Carbon Challenge as a catalyst for more intense environmental efforts (Vora 2016).

The value system of ecological modernization also implicates consumers as stakeholders because of the consumer’s role in the market place. Many of the hotels’ changes will not be obvious to the average guest, however consumer trends indicate that guests “want the hotels they stay at to be helping the environment even if that help isn’t tangible” (Vora 2016). Hotels will continue their green efforts if this will influence a consumer’s decision to stay at a particular hotel.

New York City, as the biggest, and arguably, the most influential American city, is a leader in urban sustainability politics and policies. The successfulness of the NYC Carbon Challenge has the potential to resonate with cities across the United States.

References

1. Smith, Zachary A., ed. “Changing Cultural and Social Beliefs: From Conservation to Environmentalism.” In The Environmental Policy Paradox, 5^th Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

2. Vora, Shivani. 2016. “New York Hotels Make a Green Pledge.” The New York Times, January 19. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/travel/green-hotels-new-york-city.html?ref=earth&_r=0 (February 3, 2016).