How to create a sustainable travel policy
With environmental issues becoming increasingly grave, the public is deservedly placing businesses' sustainability efforts under the spotlight. Companies that proactively reduce their carbon footprint are seen as responsible and forward-thinking, while those that neglect this duty risk damaging their reputation.As travel is one of the main sources of global carbon emissions, reducing the environmental impact of your corporate travel is a fantastic way to start shaping a more sustainable business. Setting a few boundaries for your business travel can help your teams make greener choices and support sustainability managers in their quest to minimise emissions.A sustainable travel policy is a valuable tool to help reduce your travel-related carbon emissions and reach your broader sustainability goals. With so many tools available, it's never been easier to craft a policy that can have a long-lasting impact on your sustainability journey.How to establish a successful sustainable travel policy
You can set up a sustainable travel policy in minutes. But to really make a difference to your carbon emissions, it pays to do a little investigation. Start by measuring your current carbon footprint. Then, look at which areas of your business contribute the most to those emissions. This will help you create policies that target specific areas where you can make the biggest impact.Step 1. Calculate your current carbon emissions
The first step in setting meaningful sustainability goals is determining your current carbon emissions. If your company has a sustainability manager, they might have already done a detailed audit of your carbon footprint.But if you are starting from scratch, there are tools your travel manager can use to gauge the emissions from your corporate travel. Your travel management company may offer carbon auditing as an additional service, or an online booking tool like TravelPerk can make generating carbon reports a breeze with GreenPerk. After accurately assessing your carbon footprint, you can set smarter strategies for reducing it.2. Evaluate your findings
Analysing your current carbon footprint can help you project the volume of your future emissions and create more realistic strategies for your sustainable travel policy. Start by highlighting the routes that contribute the most to your CO2 emissions.Investigate if these destinations could be changed for more sustainable options and use them as a guide to set more realistic targets for your emissions. Include cost parameters in your analysis to ensure that any suggested sustainability strategy remains cost-effective.Growing businesses might find it easier to focus on efficiency over emissions. Determining a goal on carbon emissions per kilometre or per employee can help get the ball rolling while you build up to bigger changes.3. Set straightforward strategies
After evaluating your primary CO2 emissions, establish some simple strategies for your teams to implement. These will form your sustainable travel policy, so they need to be easy to action. Some examples of sustainability practices you could include are:- Making it compulsory to pick rail journeys over air travel when itineraries are under a specific duration
- If business travellers do need to fly, ensure they travel directly as much as possible
- Ask travellers to identify which airlines use newer planes on their long-haul routes
- Identify airlines that are procuring new technologies, such as biofuels, or investing in their own carbon offsetting programmes. Establish a list of preferred airlines based on the extent they engage with sustainable business practices like these. Ensure it is clear that employees should use these airlines wherever possible to remain compliant with your sustainability programme.
- Encourage employees to use public transport and opt for a hybrid or electric vehicle when hiring a car or taking a taxi.
After writing up your sustainability travel policy, make sure you monitor how your teams get on with these new strategies. Change won't happen overnight, but with the right environmental policies, you should see continual improvement as sustainability becomes embedded in your company's core values.If you don’t see your carbon emissions come down, you likely need to take a new approach either in the policies themselves or in how you motivate your teams to go green.4. Offset your remaining carbon emissions
Unfortunately, as hard as we try to reduce, recycle and reuse, we can't avoid all carbon emissions. This is where selecting a carbon offsetting programme can help mitigate any negative impact on environmental sustainability.With tons of fantastic options out there, companies can choose partnerships that protect vulnerable ecosystems, invest in renewable energy and have a positive social impact. But, finding a carbon offsetting programme that contributes to tackling climate change in meaningful ways is crucial to avoid accusations of greenwashing.At TravelPerk, we help businesses turn their carbon emissions into positive change with GreenPerk. From protecting primary rainforests to investing in green energy, the projects we select are accredited by environmental experts VERRA and reduce carbon emissions by almost 2 million tonnes each year.How to get teams on board with a sustainable travel policy?
Determining a strategy for your sustainability policy is just the first step to successfully implementing change. Communicating your company's sustainability stance in a clear and engaging way is the key to instigating long-term gains. So, what techniques can you use to help your teams adapt to new eco-friendly protocols?Communicate with clear guidelines
How you share your environmentally friendly intentions is vital. While it's important to be transparent, avoid getting too bogged down in numbers and bamboozling teams with the complexity of carbon rates. Instead, to empower employees, opt for straightforward goals and the practical steps you outlined earlier.Take advantage of technology
In the past, corporate travel policies were often relegated to the recesses of email inboxes or shared drives. But technology is making it much easier for travel managers to improve compliance and give business travellers some autonomy over their arrangements.Using an online tool like TravelPerk can help businesses incorporate their travel policy into the booking process. In just a few minutes, travel managers can set parameters so corporate travellers can choose from options that are compliant with the company's travel policy.Any itineraries that fall within the policy's scope are automatically approved, while managers receive notifications for any that require additional authorisation. Plus, with a system like GreenPerk, business travellers can see the differing carbon emissions for their choices, making it easier to pick more eco-friendly arrangements.Offer opportunities for feedback
A corporate sustainability policy is only successful if it's open for review, so be sure to set time aside to reevaluate your sustainable travel policy. Companies using online tools like TravelPerk can see their progress with just a few clicks. As well as generating carbon emission reports, make time to gather comments from your stakeholders to find out which policies they find easy to follow and if any require further thought.If you have a weekly all-hands meeting, use it as an opportunity to make an event of updating everyone on your progress. Decide beforehand whether you need to tweak your travel policy and use the occasion to announce any changes.Hopefully, you will be able to celebrate some major wins, but if you still have a way to go, don't worry. Focusing on metrics that show how far you've come can get people excited about the positive changes you are making. If you have run an incentive, make a big deal of awarding your winning teams to build a buzz around sustainability around the office.Make sustainability a core part of your business travel policy with TravelPerk
Remember, sustainability is an ongoing journey. Every step you take brings your company closer to greener, smarter travel that aligns with your sustainability goals.With TravelPerk’s GreenPerk, you can offset 100% of your business travel carbon emissions in a transparent and impactful way. GreenPerk calculates the carbon footprint of your travel, pools funds and invests them in certified environmental projects. You get detailed, VERRA-certified reports that show exactly how your travel emissions are being offset, helping you make meaningful steps toward your net-zero goals.?)
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