DENMARK: BeCause, which helps hotels manage their sustainability data, will soon offer a new tool that helps global hotel chains meet their reporting and compliance obligations under the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Starting in the second half of 2024, hotels using the Danish start-up’s technology will have access to a digitised version of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), the first mandatory and standardised sustainability framework for companies in Europe.
Hotels can then collect and create audit-ready reports on their sustainability data. Current BeCause users will also be able to apply any existing data collected previously through the platform and automatically map it to ESRS.
This data can be used for voluntary eco-certifications so that the hotel won’t have to input the same information multiple times.
BeCause co-founder and CEO Frederik Steensgaard said: “Instead of starting from scratch, hotels will be able to leverage the sustainability data they already have at hand and upcycle it to the ESRS framework for CSRD compliance purposes.”
Steensgaard explains that reusing information encourages transparency and eliminates double-accounting errors.
“By adding the ESRS framework to our platform, we are helping hotels minimise the risk of non-compliance penalties as well as reputational damage”.
BeCause will also launch a new feature to help hotels address double materiality, which is when the information a hotel discloses has implications for its financial value, as well as the wider picture of its impact on the world.
The feature is a digitised framework based on the guidelines released by the European Corporate Reporting Lab (EFRAG).
For a large hotel collecting and reporting on the 1,100 data points under ESRS, it might sometimes require working with an outside consultant, but BeCause says once it implements double materiality into its platform, hotels will quickly be able to see which of the data points are pertinent to their business, and then independently determine the material information on sustainability impacts, risks, and opportunities.
“With hotels now obligated to report on their sustainability, there is a clear opportunity for them to also capitalise on the consumer demand for more sustainable accommodations by using BeCause to manage their sustainability data holistically,” Steensgaard says.
Earlier this month a new EU Directive came into force, which will require hotels to verify all green claims. The Directive will mean hotels have to be careful about how they present their sustainable and environmental initiatives and credentials to guests.
In December BeCause announced it had secured a further €1.7 million in seed funding.
Sustainability data startup BeCause secures further €1.75m in funding
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