Climate change – how can the travel industry address it?

The report in our Thought Leadership series, Rethinking Travel Management As Climate Change Intensifies , highlights just how important industry collaboration is, and will be, when it comes to exploring where the travel industry can play a key role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and adapting for a net-zero carbon world.

Kerry Douglas , Head of Programme at the Institute of Travel Management agrees, and we asked Kerry about where she thinks business travel can show its value as climate change intensifies and what needs to change when it comes to corporate travel management.

What are the challenges around business continuity, climate change and managed travel?

If the business travel industry doesn’t act now, collectively, to address our emissions and carbon impact, we may end up being forced to embrace or adopt future legislation that becomes mandatory without full consultation. Buyers have an opportunity as experts in business travel to take the lead within travel programmes and within our industry to shape how we will reduce our impact on the planet and climate change.

A key challenge is having accurate and meaningful data. While there are organisations that can help in providing data, our industry is still a long way from having accurate baselines from which travel managers can measure across the entire travel programme with the ability to compare ‘apples with apples’. There are many sources from which to gather data, which are often not directly comparable. Plus any leakage in the travel programme also presents challenges with accurate reporting. It’s also important to look at end-to-end carbon reporting of a business trip – the whole trip needs to be considered, not just one element like the flights.?

Thinking about climate change and keeping businesses thriving – what needs to change when it comes to travel management??

There needs to be a considered and aligned voice on the value of business travel and its ability to support an organisation’s strategic objective – a strong and continuous voice on how the industry is investing/evolving and proactively innovating to minimise its impact on the environment, while balancing the wider socio- economic, cultural and economic benefits it brings.

There also needs to be a move towards a greater focus on carbon, alongside cost, when planning travel budgets, with the aim of striking a delicate balance between sustainability, travel safety, quality and convenience.

Buyers should also be more proactive in urging the supply chain to take definitive actions – ultimately buyers can only convince their travellers to make the right supplier choices, if those sustainable options are available in the market.

When it comes to making the right choice, it’s also important to focus on how and when you travel, including attitudes to length of stay. For example, instead of going to the same destination six times a month, go once and stay for three days. This approach also reduces traveller stress and improves productivity as well as reducing CO2 footprint and costs – especially if long-haul flights are involved.

How can business travel show its value as climate change intensifies?

Travel managers are experts in their field and they need to continue to elevate their future role within their organisation when it comes to climate change. They need to show their value to the business through advising on what steps to take to build responsible travel programmes and support an organisation’s targets in reducing scope 3 emissions. This can be done by aligning climate action with the travel programme and the right travel policy.

Data is king – corporates must be able to track, show and provide the answers. Although the ideal tools for this purpose aren’t yet in place, corporates shouldn’t wait or delay until they’ve got perfect data sets. They need to act now and do what they can, refining the process as and when possible.

A travel programme that is mindful of its impact on the environment and purposeful in in its execution can also attract and retain talent. There has been much documented research on how younger generations will choose to buy from/work for companies who align to their values and deliver on commitments to the environment and hold strong ESG principles.

What do innovative, more purposeful-considered travel solutions look like?

ITM’s buyer members recommend the following:

• Build robust carbon reporting and budgets at individual traveller level as well as departmental and business
• Educate the business on the travel programme and personalisation, in terms of initiatives each traveller can adopt to minimise their environmental impact
• Don’t look to SAF as the silver bullet – it absolutely has a critical part to play but is not the one and only option
• Build a suite of initiatives/guidance that is easily digestible and aligns to organisational purpose and pillars.?From the very simple, such as baggage/length of stay/modal shift/electric vehicles/supplier engagement to embedding initiatives such as laundry change and hotel toiletries removal
• Seek opportunities to engage with organisations to drive towards a standard measurement of data capture/reporting – such as the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance’s HCMI initiative
• Consider gamification initiatives to motivate travellers to make sustainable choices – people are competitive by nature, so you could reward and recognise them for achieving carbon targets, reducing their emissions, or booking greener travel options
• Investigate door-to-door planning tools to provide overall trip impact, not just individual elements such as air and hotel
• Take advantage of offline booking advice from your TMC that aligns with online and in-app advice
• Take action now, no matter how small, and build a short/medium/long term plan
• Work together as an industry to drive change and momentum – using data to guide and report the impact. This is a non-competitive topic and we can all support each other