InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard for all UK owned and managed hotels and its UK offices.

The endorsement has been created by the Carbon Trust and is designed to help companies demonstrate they are tackling climate change and have made genuine reductions in their carbon emissions.

Companies and organisations that receive the recognition will be able to communicate their efforts by using the Carbon Trust Standard logos in their marketing materials.

To achieve the standard, IHG achieved a 2.6 per cent reduction in its carbon emissions in the UK over the past two years, which equates to carbon savings of approximately 2,200 tonnes - the equivalent of taking 820 cars off the road.

David Jerome, IHG's senior vice president of corporate social responsibility said, "This accreditation is a great way of communicating our environmental credentials to our guests who want to know that when they stay with us, they are making a positive difference for themselves and the planet.

At the end of 2009, IHG launched its online environment management tool called Green Engage. The system lets hotels directly input data and then compares them to hotels of a similar nature around the world.

The system also lists a series of actions that each hotel can take to reduce waste and the consumption of energy and water. Green Engage has played a significant part in helping to achieve the reductions needed to gain the Standard.