At Westminster Palace, the meeting place for the UK’s two houses of Parliament in London, Crystal Lagoons® will receive in the coming days the prestigious environmental prize, the “Green Apple Award“, which recognizes the sustainability of its technology. The award recognizes the contribution of its Public Access Lagoons™ projects, which, once implemented globally, could reduce the carbon footprint of tourism and transportation by more than 40%.
The award acknowledges the environmental contribution of the PAL™ business model and their potential for urban transformation. In ecological terms, a key factor was how PAL™ help reduce the number of people travelling to coastal destinations and natural beaches, which, globally, accounts for around 35 million tons of CO2 annually from automobile and air travel emissions. In urban areas, the PAL™ projects stood out for their disruptive role in bringing beaches to cities, as happened 200 years ago in England, when a piece of forestland was brought to London and urban parks were created.
The PAL™ projects help reduce the number of people commuting and thus generating savings of more than 40% in terms of their carbon footprint. This represents 14 million tons of CO2 (equivalent to 51.3 billion vehicle kilometers), as people can access the beach by walking, cycling, using public transport or taking short car rides.
The award highlights the ecological and transformative value of this new Crystal Lagoons® model, which seeks to integrate quality of life, city, habitat and ecosystem conservation, with a pro-environmental concept that advances carbon neutrality in human economic and social activities.
The “Green Apple Award” is sponsored by various reputable British environmental organizations, such as the UK Environment Agency, the UK Green Building Council, and UK British Environmental Health and Heritage Conservation bodies.
Crystal Lagoons® technology was selected from over 500 entries and the awards ceremony will be held at The Houses of Parliament. In previous years, distinguished organizations have included Lloyds Banking Group, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, BNP Paribas Real Estate, Volkswagen, Canon, Alstom, Shell, Toshiba and others.
PAL™ developments are built around a clear water lagoon suitable for swimming and water sports. These areas are open to the general public upon payment of an entrance fee and include spaces for fairs, event launches, food halls, weddings, concerts, terraces, domes, as well as gastronomic events, retail, amphitheaters and shows.
Crystal Lagoons® already has 810 PAL™ projects at different stages of development and planning all over the world. Among the most important projects are those in the United States (16 PAL in association with Epic and Mattel and 5 in Orlando), in Korea (30 PAL with the Hyundai-NexPlan consortium), Pakistan (15 PAL in association with Ary Group, the main business holding company), and Central America (18 PAL with successful entrepreneurs in the region).
