How to reduce carbon footprint from business travel
Adopting sustainability goals and practices is becoming a top priority for companies, with their reputations even being at risk based on the environmental choices they make.However, while business travel emissions are a major contributor to global warming, it remains essential for many organisations to do business and build relationships in a way that can only be possible face to face.Fortunately, today there are many resources available for business travellers to understand their carbon impact, choose sustainable travel alternatives and help fight climate change by achieving carbon neutrality.How to reduce the environmental impact caused by business travel
Challenging the way things are done and striving for constant improvement is what makes sustainable travel possible. Here are some steps your organisation can take in order to implement a more environmentally friendly travel policy, without compromising the business.1. Calculate your business travel carbon footprint
Calculating your organisation’s greenhouse gas emissions derived from business travel is a great way to know what the starting point is, as well as to identify the largest carbon dioxide emission sources and create an action plan for carbon reduction.There are many ways to calculate a company's carbon footprint. From hiring a consultancy firm to using specific tools, the options are there to make this possible for companies of all sizes. For example, when using TravelPerk’s business travel platform to plan trips, you can automatically see and track your organisation’s carbon footprint derived from corporate travel.Small steps. Big impact. Start offsetting your business travel today.
2. Create a green business travel programme
More and more companies are adopting green business travel programmes that take the environment into consideration and lay out the actions the company takes to achieve sustainable travel. When creating a green business travel programme, analysing your carbon footprint and using the data to set emissions reduction targets is the best way to start.Based on this data, set clear goals and lay out the measures to achieve them, including incentives and restrictions for employees to be more committed to following them. Define how the progress of the travel programme will be monitored and measured, and who will be responsible for it.3. Fly in economy class to lower CO2 emissions
Did you know that first-class and business-class seats can generate up to four times the amount of carbon emissions? This is due to the larger area occupied by these seats, as well as the extra weight of the luggage allowance, and more.An easy and cost-effective way to reduce these carbon emissions is to encourage employees to fly economy class. Considering most business trips are domestic or short to medium-distance, this swap shouldn't have a major impact on the overall experience of the business trip.4. Choose low-emission airlines
Not all airlines generate the same amount of carbon emissions, even when flying the same route. Even though flying generates significant CO2 emissions, it’s not realistic to exclude it entirely from your sustainable business travel policy. Instead of banning air travel completely, identify which airlines serve the routes your employees usually fly and create a list of the most carbon-friendly ones. Some criteria you can use to identify which airlines are more carbon-friendly are:- Amount of CO2 generated by a specific flight and airline. You have access to this information when you use TravelPerk’s business travel booking platform.
- If the airline offers the possibility to offset your carbon footprint.
- If the airline has a sustainability policy, which you can usually find on their website or ask about by email.
6. Choose sustainable accommodations
Although the main source of carbon emissions during a business trip is air or road travel, accommodation follows right after with an average of 10 to 13 tonnes of CO2 generated per room per year in the UK.Hotels usually consume high amounts of energy and produce unnecessary waste as part of their operations. However, there are certifications in place for hotels that adhere to environmentally friendly practices. Apart from these certifications, many hotels have green travel initiatives in place too.Ensure you make choosing an environmentally friendly accommodation a part of your green travel policy.7. Consider the greenest form of transport
Statistics show that flying generates more CO2 emissions than travelling by train, but can be greener than driving. The latter depends on the route, the type of car and the amount of people travelling. If more than one person is travelling, then the amount of emissions released by the car is reduced, and driving is a greener option than flying.Using public transport when moving around cities, or between cities, should always be a priority over flying or driving. In many cases, public transport can even offer a smoother travel experience—think of all the time saved by avoiding traffic jams, not having to look for parking and no waiting to board!8. Reduce your petrol consumption or go electric
To make car travel less polluting, make use of renewable energy, whether you decide to replace your company cars with electric models or just rent them. If that’s not possible, you can also consider choosing vehicles with smaller engines, which consume less petrol. Additionally, you can organise company-wide training sessions on fuel-efficient driving techniques to further reduce your company’s carbon footprint.9. Make use of green travel tax breaks
When implementing a green travel policy, the benefits don’t resume to cost-savings and improved brand reputation—you can benefit from green tax breaks as well. Depending on the country where your organisation is based, it may be eligible to receive tax breaks for implementing sustainable initiatives, such as buying electric and low-emission vehicles, providing employees with public transport subscriptions, green commute incentives and donations.10. Offset your carbon footprint with GreenPerk
Although even the most sustainable travel options generate CO2 emissions, carbon-neutral business travel is still possible. How? By choosing carbon offsetting! This means encouraging a reduction of carbon emissions in order to compensate for emissions generated by your company, often in the form of donations.When there’s no other option, it’s still possible to offset 100% of your emissions related to business travel by using TravelPerk’s travel booking platform and GreenPerk.Small steps. Big impact. Offset your travel carbon footprint with ease.
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