Accor launches Sustainability Innovation Program focused on water

Water first in 2026 with Water Unite

Accor has unveiled a sustainability innovation programme to accelerate the identification, testing and deployment of solutions that optimise resource use across its hotels. Running for five years, the initiative makes water the priority for 2026. The aim is to identify and validate more than 100 practical solutions by 2030, with measurable operational and environmental benefits. The most effective innovations will be scaled across the global network and shared with the wider industry.

The programme follows a four-phase methodology — Framing, Sourcing, Testing and Scaling — with real-world pilots in the Group’s hotels, beginning in luxury operations. From 2026, Accor is partnering with Water Unite, an international non-profit that brings together companies and investors to finance high-impact water solutions. The goal of the partnership is to select proven technologies with a guaranteed return on investment for hotels and owners, the Group said. The Group has already opened applications for the programme.

Delivering tangible operational impact

Accor positions the framework as a lever to move from local initiatives to a structured, global roll-out with quantifiable results. The approach aims to cut impacts, strengthen hotels’ operational resilience and create value across the ecosystem by sharing lessons and best practice. It sits within the “Hosting Change” roadmap, which seeks to adapt places for tomorrow by championing resource-efficient, circular models.

Coline Pont, Group Chief Sustainability Officer of Accor, said: “Balancing growth and sustainability continues to be a major challenge for the hospitality sector and our ambition is not only to improve performance and reduce our impact within our own hotels, but to act as a positive catalyst for the wider industry by sharing solutions that are proven to work.” “With the Sustainability Innovation Program, we are taking a structured approach to advancing this ambition. Through our initial focus on water and partnership with Water Unite, we hope to demonstrate how this new approach can deliver real operational impact and network wide value while enhancing the security of the planet’s most valuable resource.”

Accor says success could translate into lower operating costs, a smaller environmental footprint for assets and closer alignment with the needs of water‑stressed destinations and investors. The Group reports it reduced water intensity in 2025 by 5.2% versus 2024, helped by equipping more than 1,100 hotels with low-flow showerheads by the end of that year.