Belmond has appointed its first head of environmental and social impact to "further shape" the brand's global sustainability strategy.

Carmel McQuaid will join the luxury travel brand on January 2 to lead the execution of key global environmental and social projects as well as partnerships across the business.  

McQuaid has more than 15 years’ experience working in sustainable development. She joins Belmond from Marks & Spencer, where as head of ESG she was responsible for addressing environmental and social challenges across the business as it strove to become net zero.

Belmond’s chief executive Dan Ruff said McQuaid was joining the business at “an exciting time”.

“Through a rigorous assessment across our business over the past year, Belmond is entering a new phase in its transformative journey, particularly focusing on environmental and social responsibility,” he said.

“2024 will see our brand accelerating our efforts, introducing new initiatives and actionable roadmaps that aim to create long-lasting positive impacts on the business, the industry and most importantly, the communities we serve.”

McQuaid added: “Belmond is renowned for one-of-a-kind experiences and its genuine connections with the destinations where they operate; I recognise an opportunity to further extend the ethos of service and care to the people and places that make Belmond so unique.

“I look forward to further building on the work that the company has already delivered across its environmental and social impact work.”

Belmond said environmental and social responsibility was a “key foundation” of its strategic plan and said it was set to “accelerate its efforts” as it sets “ambitious” goals to reduce its impact and reliance on natural resources.

The brand has plans to launch a pilot programme at ten properties to create “tailored and actionable” roadmaps to help them meet the sustainable targets set by LVMH Life 360, a new environmental performance blueprint for the LVMH Group for the next three, six and 10 years. 

It will also implement three flagship projects that focus on increasing the use of renewable energy, reducing freshwater withdrawal, and creating a Gastronomy Academy to guide its work in reducing impact in food and beverage. 

A global partnership with EarthCheck, a scientific benchmarking, certification and advisory group for travel and tourism, also means all eligible Belmond properties are set to receive EarthCheck Silver certification by the first half of 2024.

Belmond said the benchmarking and auditing process would “establish baselines” that will be used to measure and improve its performance across energy, waste and water.