Will 2024 be the year business travel gets strategic about sustainability?

It’s now widely recognised that 2023 was the hottest year on record. With temperatures for the year around 1.4 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial baseline we’re getting dangerously close to the 1.5 degree target set by the Paris Agreement. In fact, it was announced at the United Nations’ 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) meeting in December 2023, that we’re now almost past the point of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. The only real pathway left to us is to overshoot and then dial back. Things are getting serious.??

In the 12 months or so since I joined the world of business travel, sustainability has evolved from a ‘buzzword’ to a ‘trend,’ and now a ‘priority.’ But apart from a few leaders, action to build sustainability into travel programs is patchy. Will 2024 see it finally become a strategic imperative??

New research from BCD, due to be released later this month, will show that there are still significant gaps in levels of knowledge, action and commitment when it comes to sustainability in business travel. Solutions tend to focus on tactical actions that travellers can take, but in the bigger scheme of things, given the scale of the challenge at hand, this is merely tinkering at the edges.??

Travel, and particularly business travel, does not operate in a vacuum. It’s highly vulnerable to global shifts either physical like weather patterns or geopolitical unrest such as war, or public opinion like the perceptions of value and greenwashing. We need to take a step back and think more strategically when it comes to sustainability.?

Decarbonisation needs to be a core strategy, not an afterthought. Any claim of sustainability action that doesn’t have measurable decarbonisation progress at its core will be viewed as greenwashing. In some jurisdictions, this will be deemed greenwashing by law. It’s becoming more common for national and company regulations to require emissions measurement and reporting, and supply chain impacts to be considered as well. This means being able to show actual reductions in emissions, not just engagement activities that may nudge behaviour. For travel programs, this means bottom-up approaches that target traveller behaviour need to be supported by top-down strategies that reflect the wider context, and that mandate and reward those behaviours and resulting emissions reductions’ outcomes. They should also recognise when progress is not being made and act accordingly. And yes, demand management, is also a consideration.??

We need a ‘contribution’ rather than an ‘offsetting’ mindset. Following some high-profile controversies in 2023, steps have been taken to address the governance and regulatory issues around the voluntary carbon markets. Contributing to projects that protect, sustainably manage and restore ecosystems (nature-based solutions) remains an important and legitimate strategy. However, companies wishing to mitigate the impact of their travel emissions in this way still need to be careful about where they invest their money. It should be about contribution rather than offsetting. Claims of being ‘carbon neutral’ risk greenwashing accusations and should be avoided at all costs. But when done right, the power of business travel to make a positive impact is considerable.??

Business travel needs to recognise its relationship with nature.? The biodiversity and climate crises go hand in hand. Protecting and restoring biodiversity is key to addressing climate change. As such, it’s increasingly being integrated into reporting frameworks, for example the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), CDP and Task Force on Nature Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). Although the links with business travel are less clear than those of carbon emissions, the connections are strong. Hotels have a huge role to play in terms of their food chains, sourcing of furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) and development processes. Travel managers and procurement teams can start by talking to hotel suppliers to better understand their biodiversity plans and actions. Contributions to nature-based solutions are another way business travel can support biodiversity conservation.???

Aviation’s path to net zero is far from certain. Despite some phenomenal advances in operational and aircraft efficiency, and a vigorous focus on sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), achieving net zero in aviation will require massive scale up of as-yet-unproven technologies and/or a reduction in growth ambitions. It’s now widely acknowledged that SAF is not a silver bullet, and that the scale up of SAF comes with significant sustainability risks itself. Yet, a thriving and sustainable aviation industry will underpin the future sustainability of business travel, so the industry needs to proactively support aviation’s decarbonisation in meaningful ways. This means partnering with and rewarding the airlines that are leading investments in new technologies and solutions and pushing for more robust governance and accounting systems around SAF.??

Renewable energy is the key to a sustainable future. The vast majority of solutions for business travel will require enormous amounts of renewable energy. From SAF production to electric vehicles, high speed rail, electric aviation, low carbon hotels and more. At COP28 ambitious targets and commitments for renewables were made. These need to be welcomed and supported. Industry bodies need to advocate for investment in and deployment of renewables.??

I strongly believe that business travel, with its wide networks, corporate purchasing power and ability to engage individual travellers can play an important role in ensuring a sustainable future for our planet. But it requires action, commitment and a new way of thinking. It’s time to step up. It’s time for real engagement, tangible progress and a commitment to creating benefits that go beyond economic activity, job creation and human connection. It’s time to make sustainability a strategic imperative.??