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In 2010, as a response to global mega trends, the Best Western International central office requested all of its offices worldwide to implement environmental programs. The Mexico, Central America, and Ecuador offices consulted with Universidad del Caribe about the best way to fulfill this request and as a result a collaborative project began. A few months later, a Best Environmental Practices Manual (according to the Best Western operational practices and international environmental standards) was developed, together with the Best Green (BG) award and the implementation and external evaluation process. The corporate office evaluated the award and selected it together with the eight recognized international ecolabels, including it as part of its operation. They also promoted and sold awarded hotels as green products. After more than three years of working with the program in the regopm, 49 hotels have obtained the award and 13 have revalidated this certification. Unfortunately, for many external reasons, the program was suspended in 2014. However, this experience offers many valuable lessons in the collaboration among sectors and helps close the gap between theory and praxis and to make more effective collaboration process to increase tourism competitiveness.

The purchasing power of public sector organizations can be used to promote strategic policy objectives such as sustainability, innovation, and the concept of circular economy (CE). In Denmark, total greenhouse gas emissions from public procurement (PP) activities comprise approximately 12 million tons CO₂eq/year. Thus, if sustainability criteria and CE are considered in PP, there is a potential for environmental savings and for driving innovation toward circularity. Directive 2014/24/EU on PP makes it possible to include sustainability criteria or CE in public tenders. In order to aid this process, the case company Vraa Dampvaskeri has, together with researchers from Aalborg University, developed a guide for sustainable PP focusing on workwear and laundry services. In this chapter, we explore how this guide has been used in practice. This includes a consideration of the way in which such a guide can aid the process of setting sustainable and circular criteria in public tenders, thus supporting a transition to CE. Although the guide is now supported by national criteria for textiles in the Danish Partnership for Green PP, these tools cannot stand alone, as their use by PP officers is voluntary. Market engagement is imperative for inclusion of sustainability and CE in tenders, and the involvement of user groups is essentially important.

The growth in the ecotourism industry has increased emphasis on sustainable practices. Despite the fact that ample research has been conducted on sustainable ecotourism practices, many ecotourism destinations fail to become sustainable. The growth of the ecotourism industry and the global population has called for greener practices to be incorporated in developing ecotourism destinations. Waterwheel, located in the Limpopo province of South Africa, is faced with this green development challenge and serves as a case study (located at the end of the chapter) for this chapter.

This chapter gives a brief overview of the green principles associated with developing ecotourism destinations. Green ecotourism destination planning is explained within the context of the tourists’ experience to highlight aspects necessary for sustainable ecotourism destination development.

Even though the green market is still in its infancy, tourists are increasingly demanding green accommodation. A green, sustainable ecotourism destination can only be developed if green principles are incorporated from the input phase. The input phase (e.g., building materials and infrastructure systems for water and energy) determines the output phase (e.g., operational materials, activities, suppliers, activities, and marketing) and, subsequently, the level of sustainability. It is therefore crucial to plan for these aspects and the level to which the destination aims to adhere to these aspects, as they are costly.

Even though research on the green economy is not a new phenomenon it has only recently trickled down to ecotourism development. This explains the lack of research currently experienced in the literature of ecotourism and a gap that should be addressed urgently. Although this chapter only briefly discusses green ecotourism development, the aspects highlighted in the chapter provides other researchers with research opportunities to pursue in an effort to bridge the gap.

While sustainability issues in the tourism industry have been the subject of substantial research, such issues have not been well discussed in the field of events which is increasingly supporting tourism plans. The environmental sustainability of events in particular has not been thoroughly addressed, and sustainable tourism accreditation schemes have generally omitted events from their scope. Green Globe, an environmental accreditation scheme for tourism, suggests 25 different types of schemes to benchmark different sectors of the industry but fails to directly address events. This chapter evaluates the adaptability of Green Globe's environmental accreditation scheme to the event sector. Eight different indicators can be applied to special events. Six are suitable for events in their current state while two others require some adjustment.

This chapter provided systematic and comprehensive analysis on trawl fisheries management and conservation measures in the Straits of Malacca. Detailed analysis is conducted on Malaysian fishery management framework particularly domestic country's trawl fishery status, legal structure, input-control strategies, ecosystem protection plan, pollution, law enforcement, and complementary measures that designed to reduce and prevent overfishing in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Malacca Straits. Gaps and challenges found in existing trawl fisheries literature are presented followed by recommendations for improvement in the management and conservation of trawl fisheries.

While the need to respond to the wide-ranging challenges posed by climate change has been widely emphasized, there is still a relative lack of attention being given to the type, scale, and nature of responses that are taking place in different economic sectors and parts of the world. This chapter provides a review of the tourism-related responses to the implications of climate change in the context of New Zealand. This is a country where tourism is a very important sector of the economy that depends heavily on the credibility of its green and unspoilt destination image. However, due to its relative isolation in the South Pacific, New Zealand requires most international tourists to travel long distances, which results in considerable greenhouse gas emissions. The chapter outlines the private and public sectors' responses to these challenges with particular attention to their collaboration.

This volume sought to both widen and deepen understanding of the complex relationship between tourism and climate change by compiling a collection of chapters with diverse disciplinary backgrounds. Additionally, through the use of case studies this volume bridges the gap between theory and practice by illustrating the realities of implementing climate-change-focused initiatives and strategies in the context of tourism. To present the different contributions in sections with similar foci, this volume is structured into four thematic sections with each containing at least one supporting case study. Section one establishes a scientifically based contextualization of tourism and climate change; the second examines initiatives and issues that arise in the supply of tourism products in this era of climate change; the third discusses issues and actions related to different countries and tourism consumers; and the fourth explores adaptation and innovation actions and identifies resulting challenges.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) research and practice have grown in preeminence over the past two decades. In corporations, global institutional frameworks (e.g. the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) have guided and spurred the adoption and operationalisation of CSR strategies across industries and sectors. In academia, the business case for CSR seems to have been one of the main research foci towards the transition to more ethical and more responsible management. However, recent ecological and social disturbances (i.e. COVID-19 pandemic, global warming, etc.) have challenged our understanding of the role that CSR can play in this transition. In this chapter, we explore how the use and instrumentalisation of CSR practices in both academia and business have led not only to eroding the concept from its conceptual essence, but also to giving increased power and legitimacy to the very ailments that CSR was created to heal.

CSR is a relatively new concept which can be defined as the set of rules by which a company equips itself in order to ensure compliance to various regulations, as well as ethical and environmental standards, that have to be addressed in relation to the sector in which it operates. Despite this international definition, it is hard to deal with this notion in a legal perspective. The chapter investigates how the notion is operating in the European and Chinese Green Energy Industry.

The approach is functionalist in nature and is based on comparative law method.

The insights about the diverse notions of CSR in the energy industry can be useful for lawyers and compliance managers working in transnational contexts.

CSR represents a way of marketing for consumers and society. Understanding the real functioning in the world of affairs beyond the policy declamations may increase the public accountability of the CSR processes.

The functionalist approach based on comparative law method has never been applied to the intertwined issues about CSR in the energy industry.

Hospitality, constituting an essential component of the tourism industry, is a sector characterized by many feasible opportunities to cut carbon dioxide emissions and to reduce the use of resources. Hence this chapter, drawing on the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR), focuses on the way the hospitality sector copes with climate change. Its principal aim is to show what international hospitality companies, which are regarded as pioneers of CSR-inspired environmentalism, have done to mitigate the effects of global warming. In doing so, the chapter critically examines innovative measures and instruments introduced by top hotel chains within their CSR programs with an aim of reducing their carbon footprint. It lays emphasis on the practical dimension, highlighting the nature and effectiveness of concrete initiatives, and the issues that arise during the implementation process. The chapter concludes by providing specific managerial-policy guidelines, thereby contributing to the dissemination of best practice, and suggestions for further research.