On Friday, Valamar Riviera received the highest marks for sustainability and ESG practices from the business media platform Bloomberg Adria and EcoVadis, a global agency for assessing business sustainability.
Valamar Riviera announced last Friday that it has received two ESG ratings, from Bloomberg Adria and EcoVadis.
Starting with Bloomberg Adria, Valamar Riviera received the highest ESG rating in Croatia based on the latest analysis conducted by Bloomberg. It is further noted that Bloomberg Adria assigns ESG ratings only to the most successful companies listed on the stock market, among which Valamar has the highest overall ESG rating of 4.41. Valamar is also the only tourism company featured on the list and the only company with a rating higher than 4. The Company has achieved exceptional results across all categories: environmental, social, and governance.
At the same time, Valamar has earned a silver medal awarded by EcoVadis, a global agency for the evaluation of a wide range of business sustainability. As such, Valamar became the first and only Croatian tourism company with globally recognized sustainable practices. EcoVadis assesses companies’ performances across four areas: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement, and their assessment is globally recognized by international institutions, investors, and banks. Only the top 15% of companies evaluated by EcoVadis reach the silver level.
Valamar further noted that they continued making substantial investments into sustainable tourism throughout 2023. As such, 100% of electricity comes from renewable sources, with photovoltaic power plants in Valamar hotels and resorts covering 6% of the Company’s total electricity demands. Furthermore, greenhouse gas emissions have decreased 67% since 2015, when the Company invested more than EUR 65m into renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, destination development, and numerous programs for their employees and local community. Additional decarbonization investments have been made to reach carbon neutrality in scope 1 and 2 by 2023.
During 2023, Valamar has for the first time reported on indirect emissions on the carbon footprint in the supply chain and also developed sustainable procurement criteria that will become mandatory for all suppliers in the upcoming period. As part of its various initiatives to preserve natural resources and biodiversity, Valamar takes care of more than 80k trees and, together with its guests, plants thousands of new trees each year.
Lastly, the Company notes that promoting the growth of the local economy and supporting the creation of indigenous products and services are essential components for the progress of sustainable tourism. In 2023 alone, 78% of food and beverages were sourced within Croatia, and 83% of employees were domestic.
