New Benchmarking Study Outlines Corporate Best Practices For Managing Business Travel’s Climate Impact

As companies strive to reduce their carbon footprint, they are implementing various strategies to decarbonize their employee travel. But which practices are effective in driving change and ultimately empowering organizations to continue leveraging business travel while reducing their climate impact?

A new benchmarking study released today, "Managing Emissions From Business Travel Programs: Overview of Corporate Best Practices," sheds light on the approaches that leading companies are using to decarbonize their travel programs. This first-of-its-kind report from the GBTA Foundation provides a valuable snapshot from purpose-driven companies who are addressing and mitigating their business travel emissions. Released during Earth Month, the study examines which measures are most effective in reducing the climate impact of Scope 3 emissions from business travel and key considerations for implementation and success.

“One of the biggest challenges for achieving more sustainable business travel is knowing how to build the path and the program to get there. We went to companies and leaders in sustainability to bring forth best practices and insights that can help any company seeking to travel greener and better,” said Delphine Millot, Managing Director, GBTA Foundation.

Millot added that tackling Scope 3.6 emissions needs to be a joint effort across the entire global business travel value chain and relies on common ownership and shared responsibility between the suppliers and users of travel services.

“Corporate travel managers are uniquely placed to enable their companies to effectively reduce emissions from business travel because they understand the mechanisms better than anyone. I am hopeful this new report, which includes the collective insights of GBTA’s Corporate Advisory Board members, will support business travel professionals in their climate journey,” said Alexandru Dinca, Global Sustainability Lead, Unilever, and GBTA Foundation CAB member.

Forging the path toward a climate-conscious travel program

The report lays out a pathway of building blocks for companies to create a more climate-conscious travel program – from getting started with measures requiring less effort and funding, to advancing with more ambitious strategies, activities, and outcomes.

Developing a sustainable travel program involves a combination of measures at different levels and working with various stakeholders. The report outlines measures across four critical categories: travel decisions, emissions tracking, supplier engagement, and decarbonization. Additionally, it provides a toolbox of action areas to efficiently reduce emissions while aligning to organization budgets, available time, company culture, and other factors.

Lowering the impact of business travel on the environment is an iterative process. The report identifies commonalities among interviewees, emphasizing the integral elements necessary to effectively reduce emissions from business travel:

• No One Size Fits All: Evaluate needs and return on investment before drawing from the toolbox.
• Make a Demand Signal: Corporate travel managers have a key role to play in signaling a growing demand for greener travel options.
• Start Today: Strive to improve emissions data − but don't let perfection halt progress.
• Go “Glocal”: Global strategies should be localized to consider infrastructure and cultural differences.
• Future Proof: Combine quick wins with longer-term investments.
• Collaboration is Key: Sustainability is a shared effort between corporate travel managers, procurement, sustainability, and employee travelers.

Additional topics covered in the report include integrating climate considerations into corporate travel policies, measuring travel program emissions, greening the procurement process, and navigating Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) opportunities toward decarbonizing air travel.

Methodology

The report’s benchmarking methodology consisted of interviews with a dozen sustainability leaders from global companies that rely on business travel to successfully conduct their business. Participants included members of the GBTA Foundation’s Sustainability Corporate Advisory Board (CAB), in collaboration with the GBTA Sustainability Leadership Council (SLC).

Visit the GBTA Foundation to download the full benchmark report.

More related GBTA Foundation resources and events

• The Foundation is also set to launch a new global “State of Climate Action” study in June 2023. This report follows last year’s “State of Sustainability in Global Business Travel Study” and aims to measure the adoption of best practices for reducing Scope 3.6 emissions across the entire business travel community. The report will provide statistics on the progress made by various organizations in different regions toward their climate goals. Insights are still being collected through a survey open until April 28.
• The report will be unveiled on June 13th at GBTA’s 2nd Sustainability Summit in Washington, D.C. which will include travel buyer case studies presented by Google, Salesforce and Shell. Click here for more Summit information and to register to attend.
• The GBTA Foundation's Sustainability Program has also released a Sustainability Toolkit to guide, inform, and empower corporate travel managers in reducing the climate impact of business travel in their organization.

About the GBTA Foundation 

The GBTA Foundation is the non-profit, cause-led arm of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organization serving 7,600+ members and advocating for the $1.158 trillion*global business travel and meetings industry. The Foundation was re-launched in July 2022 to champion action and positive impact from within the global business travel industry toward creating a better future for people and the planet. It is a U.S. Internal Revenue Service-designated 501(c)3 legal entity that operates separately from but under the auspices of the 501(c)6 trade association. Learn more or make a tax-deductible contribution to our mission at GBTAFoundation.org.
*Based on 2023 GBTA Business Travel Index™ data, July 2022