Marina Bay Sands (MBS) has entered a partnership with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to raise sustainability standards in the integrated resort, starting with ocean conservation.
Under this alliance, MBS will start by strengthening its business events programme over the next year, by updating the It’s Easy Meeting Green package.
It will now also donate S$1 (US$0.73) per delegate to four aquaculture farms in Malaysia, whose responsible fishing efforts are supported by MBS under this new partnership.
The four aquaculture farms were selected for their commitment to greater sustainability, and three of them are expected to attain Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification by 2020.
In 2018, the integrated resort will launch a new Responsible Harvest Menu serving sustainable seafood options, made in collaboration with WWF.
By 2020, it aims to host more than 200 green events that adopt sustainable packages and offerings endorsed by WWF.
By 2018, MBS aims to have 70 per cent of its top 10 priority seafood species procured from sources certified by Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and ASC, and to attain 100 per cent by 2020.
In the same year, it also aims to responsibly source 50 per cent of all its seafood by volume, amounting to an estimated two million kilogrammes of responsibly sourced seafood.
Asia consumes two-thirds of the global fish catch, with Singapore’s per capita seafood consumption of 22kg exceeding the global average of 20kg, as reported by the FAO (2014) the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture and WWF report (2016).
Ian Wilson, senior vice president, hotel operations, MBS, told TTG Show Daily in an interview: “By partnering with a conservation leader like WWF, we have a tremendous opportunity to drive change through our supply chain and reach a global audience.
As the largest hotel in Singapore, we operate at a scale like no other hospitality entity… we are now positively shaping the choices our consumers make.”
He added that in the future, MBS plans to extend support beyond sustainable aquaculture to “different food groups including poultry, fruit and vegetables”, with further aid of “the technical skill of WWF”.
This collaboration falls under MBS’ ongoing global sustainability strategy Sands ECO360º, under which the integrated resort has ceased serving seafood from WWF’s Seafood Guide’s “Avoid” red list.
MBS struck shark’s fin off the menu of all of its restaurants and business events in 2014, and currently procures all of its salmon, tilapia, prawns, mussels, lobsters and oysters from sustainable sources.
- reporting from ITB Asia 2017
