85% of global companies fail to set ambitious targets to reduce business travel emissions, second edition of a survey reveals arrangement on a business trip The Travel Smart campaign.
Only 50 of the 322 companies have set targets to reduce emissions from business travel. Of those companies that have targets, only four receive the ‘gold standard’, ie report air travel emissions and commit to reducing them by 50% or more by 2025 or earlier. These are Novo Nordisk (Pharmaceuticals, Denmark), Swiss Re (Finance, Switzerland), Fidelity International (Finance, United Kingdom) and ABN Amro (Finance, Netherlands).
In the first-ever overview of reporting of non-CO2 emissions related to business flying, the ranking shows 40 companies lead the way in reporting all greenhouse gas emissions related to business flying. Pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca and Pfizer and consultancies Boston Consulting Group and Deloitte lead by example by including the full impact of flying in their reports.
The climate impact of business flying extends beyond CO2 emissions. In addition to CO2, aircraft engines also emit other gases – nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide and water – and particulate matter (soot). These are commonly referred to as non-CO2 emissions, and they are estimated that they are responsible for two thirds of the total global warming caused by flies. Yet very few companies account for the total impact of business flights by taking into account non-carbon impacts.
Denise Auclair, Business Travel Manager at Transport & Environment, said: “Businesses turn a blind eye to the damage done by flying for work. Most companies are taking little to no action on corporate flying, rendering other travel purposes pointless in the context of tackling climate change. Only a few frontrunners align with the science by reporting non-CO2 emissions – the hidden part of the iceberg of aviation’s full climate impact.”
Volkswagen, KPMG and Johnson & Johnson are the top three emitters of the Travel Smart Ranking with no target to reduce their travel emissions (1). But setting such goals is possible and necessary, as companies of similar size and sector such as McKinsey, Deloitte and AstraZeneca have done so.
The research shows that if 10% of companies – the largest emitters in the ranking – set 50% reduction targets, this would already contribute half of the global target of -50% in corporate air travel emissions in 2025. Reducing aviation emissions is now more important than ever if we want to stay within 1.5°C of global warming.
For the critical decade to 2030, flying less is the best way to reduce aviation emissions, as the timing for scaling up sustainable fuels and zero-emission aircraft is currently beyond 2030 and offsets cannot replace emissions reductions.
The Travel Smart campaign calls on companies to set ambitious goals to reduce emissions from business travel, switch from air travel to rail travel where possible, and prioritize video conferencing as a replacement for long-haul air travel.
Denise Auclair concludes: “The largest emitters are playing a disproportionate role in reducing emissions from their business air travel. The means to achieve this are more accessible than ever before: train travel when distances allow and video conferencing to avoid long-haul flights.”
Transport & Environment, together with a coalition of global partners, launched the Travel Smart Campaign in 2022 with an annual edition of a corporate ranking on sustainable business travel practices. The campaign engages with businesses, with the goal of reducing their business travel emissions by 50% or more of pre-Covid levels by 2025 or earlier.
The Travel Smart Ranking ranks 322 US, European and Indian companies based on 10 indicators related to air travel emissions, reduction targets and reporting. Global top flyers from the 17 countries in the ranking represent a significant share of global business travel. The analysis sheds light on the significant efforts that some global companies still have to make to reduce their business travel emissions. Companies receive an A, B, C or D grade. In this year’s ranking, 11 companies qualified for an A grade, 38 for a B, while the vast majority achieved a C (212) and 61 companies saw a D rank next to their name.
(1) According to 2019 emissions report
Originally published on Transport & Environment.
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