Global Foundation

Banyan Group receives the American Express and International Hotel Association Environmental Award for remediating a toxic site — 222 hectares of land in an abandoned tin mine in Phuket — into a resort.

After the clean-up and planting more than 7,000 trees, our first property, Laguna Phuket, opened its doors.

The Green Imperative Fund, an opt-out donation scheme for guests, launches to finance projects with external beneficiaries. Guests are invited to make a small contribution per room night with us, and we match this dollar-for dollar.

The Fund is disbursed to various sustainability initiatives through the Foundation.

When the first Marine Lab was established at Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru in the Maldives, our reputation as pioneers of resort-based conservationism was cemented. Over the years we have funded a network of world-leading, resort-based research facilities studying environmental health and helping the most vulnerable havens of biodiversity thrive.

Banyan Tree becomes a founding member of the United Nations Global Compact Network — the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. Claire Chiang, co-founder of Banyan Group, began a four-year term as inaugural president for Singapore Compact for CSR — a leading voice on corporate sustainability.

When we published our first annual sustainability report highlighting our environmental efforts, we were ahead of the times in corporate reporting and transparency. This report set the foundation for our corporate governance approach, and documented our belief that protecting the long-term future should take precedence over immediate gain.

We conceive several core resource conservation initiatives aimed at supporting efficient operations: Greening Communities to raise awareness of climate change, and Seedlings Mentorships to empower young people through education.

Bintan Conservation Lab was also launched to spearhead efforts to bring sustainable practices to local communities.

Banyan Tree Global Foundation was established to support a socially responsible business founded with the core value of driving sustainable development. As a global hospitality group operating in diverse locations, our concept of sustainability has always sought to create long-term value for multiple stakeholders and destinations.

We select advisory group EarthCheck as a strategic partner for obtaining external sustainability certification. As the world's leading scientific benchmarking, certification and advisory group for travel and tourism, EarthCheck has been instrumental in guiding our decision-making in all sustainability-related matters ever since.

Launch of ‘Build for Good’ and ‘Stay for Good’, where both provide a framework for our operations. We are committed to ensuring that all new developments pass certification to leading international standards for sustainable development, as well as embedding our core sustainable and stewardship values in operations and guest experience.

Building on the success of ‘Stay for Good’, we expand the framework to include ‘Meet for Good’, ‘Eat for Good’, ‘Gift for Good’, and ‘Spa for Good’. By creating a holistic ecosystem spanning the entire organisation, we carry our commitment to preserving the planet to every guest touchpoint.

We carry out a comprehensive stakeholder-inclusive material analysis to frame and direct our sustainability efforts, making sure they are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We also adopted the Global Reporting Initiative core standards to better understand and communicate our impacts on climate change.

We celebrate the 25^th anniversary of Banyan Group,  15^th anniversary of Banyan Tree Marine Lab in the Maldives, and 10^th anniversary of Banyan Tree Global Foundation. Taking stock of how far we’ve come as an organisation gave us a renewed focus to drive climate action.

We launch the Greater Good Grants to support external projects by individuals and organisations whose goals align with our own framework to support measurable impact and progress towards larger regional or global frameworks. We also establish a code of conduct for our suppliers across the Group. 

In collaboration with China Environmental Protection Foundation, we establish the Banyan Tree China Enterprise Environment and Community Fund to support initiatives such as building clownfish breeding facilities at the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology. We also join Expedia Group in the UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge to promote sustainable travel.