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Dutch hotels put sustainability into practice: promoting decarbonization with 'nudges'

Dutch hotels put sustainability into practice: promoting decarbonization with 'nudges'

Director of Zeroboard Research Institute, Director of Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB)

Tomoo Machiba

Since the beginning of this year, I have been serving as a director of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Advisory Body (GSSB), and I visit the Netherlands every six months to attend face-to-face meetings.

Here, I would not like to get into serious discussion about sustainability disclosure, but rather to inform you of the decarbonization and sustainability-related movements I have seen at the various places I visit in between deliberations.

Although a far-right party that advocates the exclusion of immigrants has become the largest party in the Netherlands, it seems that the movement towards decarbonization is still making progress at the private sector level, such as with the rapid expansion of renewable energy.

What I would like to share this time is the story of a cheap hotel I stayed at in front of the station in Maastricht, a city in the southern tip of the country.

The inn, which was renovated from a house probably about 100 years old, welcomes you at the entrance with an explanation of the Japanese word "Ukiyo" (floating world) (Photo 1).

“That’s it, I’ll forget about the troubles of everyday life,” I thought to myself as I entered the room with a renewed sense of purpose. However, where I would insert my key card, there was a picture indicating that the electricity was generated from fossil fuels (Photo ②). This brought me back to reality all at once, and I felt a pang of guilt.

However, there was a sign on the desk inside the room that read, "For every night that you don't change your towels or bedding, we will plant a tree." This motivated me to overcome the guilt I felt earlier, knowing that it was not just about being environmentally friendly, but also about making a concrete contribution (Photo 3).

When you enter the bathroom, you will see humorous and quantified slogans encouraging you to take action, such as "If you sing two songs instead of five while showering, you can save 30 liters of water" (Photo 4).

In addition to the environment, social considerations were also taken into account.
Nowadays in the NetherlandsUnmanned check-in is commonplace and can be a bit boring, but perhaps as a counterbalance, there is a free coffee machine and nightcaps in the lobby, allowing guests to chat with each other (Photo 5).

There are no kettles or tea utensils in the rooms, so you have no choice but to come out to the lobby.On the other hand, they also offered goldfish bowls for rent for a fee for those who wanted some quiet time in their rooms.

In recent years, the concept of "nudge," which means gently encouraging behavioral change without forcing people, has been gaining attention based on the ideas of behavioral economics, and this hotel appears to be making concrete use of this technique.

I thought it would be fun if ideas like this, which could motivate even people who are not particularly interested in decarbonization, started to appear all over Japan.

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  • Article author
    Tomoo Machiba(Director of Zeroboard Research Institute)

    After working as a journalist for the Asahi Shimbun, she became involved in supporting corporate and government sustainability strategies internationally. She worked on guideline revisions at the GRI International Secretariat and led eco-innovation policy research at the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry. At the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), she was in charge of knowledge management of renewable energy technology data from around the world, and at the UAE Federal Government, she was involved in green economy and climate change response strategy and policy development. As Deputy Director of the United Nations Centre for Climate and Technology Network (CTCN), she was responsible for supporting technology transfer to developing countries, and returned to Japan in 2021. She served as a partner in charge of decarbonization and ESG at the foreign consulting firm ERM, and became Director of the Zeroboard Research Institute in August 2023. From January 2024, she served as a board member of the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), the deliberative body of GRI, from March 2025, as a member of the GHG Protocol TWG, and from April 2026, as Vice Chair of the GSSB. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from Sophia University and a Master's degree from the Institute for International Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK.

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