Welcome to the LCR Sustainability Support Toolkit, developed with visitor economy organisations in mind to help equip you with the knowledge and resources needed to maximise your sustainability efforts.
Our Commitment
Over the past 12 months, LCRDP have strengthened our sustainability activity to build a truly sustainable, inclusive and regenerative destination. Here’s what we’ve done:
- Developed the Destination Management Plan (2025-2030), a 5 year roadmap to make LCR the best place to visit and stay in the UK for a day, a week or a lifetime. We’ve put sustainability at the heart of these ambitions, making it one of four core underpinning principals, embedding it throughout delivery. This will ensure balance between economic growth and social responsibility, while also supporting ambitions to achieve net zero carbon emissions in the Liverpool City Region by 2040, ten years ahead of the national target.
- Developed the Visitor Economy Sustainability Action Plan, alighted to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, setting out the steps we will take to ensure we fulfil our sustainability ambitions in the DMP by delivering through ten key commitments.
- Committed to achieving sustainability certification for Liverpool City Region as a destination and LCRDP as an organisation.
- Continued our participation in the Global Sustainable Destination (GDS) Index and put plans in place to improve on our current score of 62.8%.
The following resources set out how your business can help support these plans and unlock the potential of the sustainability tourism market.
2030hub
At LCRDP, we work in partnership with the Liverpool 2030hub, the first UN recognised local 2030hub in the world, offering support and advise to private sector organisations ranging from SME’s to global multinationals.
Information on the following services can be found through their website: Our Services – 2030hub:
- Carbon management and net-zero
- B Corp certification
- Marketing, communications and engagement
- Strategy development and research
- Measurement, reporting and accreditation
To discuss how 2030hub can help you, email info@the2030hub.com or call +44 (0)151 558 1066.
Certification
Sustainability certification from a trusted provider can be the easiest way to quickly demonstrate to your customers that you have the very best sustainability practices.
Widely used providers include:
- Green Tourism: Green Tourism recognises and supports eco-friendly achievements of tourism businesses with an internationally recognised accreditation programme including bronze, silver and gold awards.
- GreenKey: Operated by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, GreenKey England is a leading standard of excellence in environmental responsibility and sustainable operation in the tourism industry
- BCorp: B Corp certification verifies that a business is meeting the highest standards of environmental and social performance, accountability and transparency.
More information on sustainability certification can be found here
Measuring your Carbon Footprint.
Measuring the carbon footprint of your business is often the first step to meaningful change on sustainability, allowing you to identify and action the steps needed to reduce your carbon emissions. Below are some useful carbon measurement tools:
- For SME’s: SME Carbon Footprint Calculator | The Carbon Trust for businesses
- For all organisations: Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2023 – GOV.UK
- For events: TRACE by isla – Event Carbon Measurement Platform
Carbon Offsetting
Once you have measured your carbon footprint, now is the time to take steps to reduce it. For many businesses carbon offsetting is the best way to do this and is the key to achieving net zero. Government targets state that businesses should look to reduce their carbon emissions to at least 50% by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Below are some useful links for businesses looking for carbon offsetting programmes:
Find more information on carbon offsetting here
Sustainability Action Planning
To supercharge your sustainability efforts, creating an action plan is essential to tracking the short, medium and long term changes you want to make.
The first step is undertaking a self-audit, helping you to establish your current sustainability status and identify any gaps.
You can download a copy of VisitEngland sustainability self-audit here
Once completed, it’s time to use your findings to improve your sustainability.
To start creating an action plan, you can download VisitEngland’s helpful template here
Circular Economy
The circular economy refers to an economic model designed to reduce waste and recycle resources. This covers a range of topics such as plastic recycling, waste management and sustainable food practices. Below are some useful links to help your organisation achieve a circular economy model:
- Food Waste Reduction: : Olio – Your Local Sharing App and Save Good Food From Going To Waste – Too Good To Go – Too Good To Go
- Plastic Free: Businesses – Plastic Free Communities
- Waste Management: Zero Waste Liverpool City Region
Find more information on the circular economy here
Source locally:
Sourcing local produce can reduce your carbon footprint while improving quality. Start sourcing locally through the links below:
- Kindred supports local Socially Trading Organisations-
- Local food suppliers are listed HERE, including our very own partner The Chocolate Cellar – perfect for client gifts
- Local vegan specialists can also be found HERE.
- Find organic food locally HERE.
Sustainability Information for Visitors
Part of your sustainability commitments as a business may include offering your visitors information topics such as sustainable places to stay and visit, sustainable transport options and steps to offset the impact of their trips.
LCRDP are currently developing a bespoke sustainable travel visitor guide you can share with your customers, including information on the above themes.
In the meantime, visitors can find useful sustainability information through the following links:
- Sustainable Visitor Information | Green Tourism | ACC Liverpool
- Sustainable Liverpool – Be green on your visit to Liverpool
Sustainable Events
If you are an event organiser the below are some useful links on how to make your events more sustainable:
- Hosting a Sustainable Event in Liverpool – Eco-Friendly Solutions for Sustainability
- How to Promote Sustainable Travel to Your Event | ACC Liverpool
Real Living wage
Because regenerative tourism is about going one step beyond, you might decide to adopt the Real Living Wage, a calculation that assesses the broader cost of living based on a basket of household goods and services.
For more details on the Real Living Wage, visit the Living Wage Foundation(opens in a new tab) and the government’s page on the minimum and national living wage(opens in a new tab) is kept updated for the latest information on both of those rates.