Climate policy changes won’t derail travel sustainability efforts

Adam Braun is CEO & co-founder of business travel and carbon emissions management specialist Clarasight

Two developments reared their head in the first half of the year that don’t, on the face of it, look like good news for the environment and corporate sustainability initiatives.

As he commenced his second term in Washington, US President Donald Trump signaled a new stance on climate policy while, in Europe, a watering down of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive was floated.

Both issues bring challenges and opportunities for buyers and suppliers across Europe’s business travel sector. While the headlines may suggest uncertainty, there is ample reason for optimism if we focus on action, adaptability and the enduring opportunities within business travel that successfully balance costs with carbon.

The current state of play

In 2025, CSRD officially entered the implementation phase for companies with more than 1,000 employees, mandating unprecedented levels of transparency, forward-looking target-setting, and accountability for carbon emissions across global operations, including business travel.

But the EU’s Omnibus package, now moving forwards, aims to streamline the most burdensome requirements of the original CSRD legislation, reining in its scope and reducing the number of companies to which it applies, from an estimated 50,000 to some 10,000.

Simultaneously, we are also seeing an aggressive push by the Trump-led US government to reduce climate-related policies. Many in the travel industry now find themselves asking: “So what does this all mean for business travel professionals and sustainability leaders?”

While it’s possible that a subset of suppliers and corporates could delay setting or achieving climate targets due to the US administration’s stance, the data suggests most CFOs still aim to invest more, not less, in sustainability in 2025 in spite of Trump’s environmental policy. Indeed, 92 per cent of CFOs expect to increase investment in sustainability initiatives in 2025, according to a survey by global consulting firm Kearney published in March.

Meanwhile, the intent of the Omnibus package is to reduce the reporting burden on companies and instead sharpen focus towards action, allowing organisations to concentrate on material, informative data and implementations rather than simply producing lengthy annual reports.

Fewer companies will face mandatory reporting, but those in scope (ie large enterprises) will need to deliver more focused, credible sustainability data. Enterprises will need to marry granular, decision-useful travel emissions data with operational travel data – to support both historical reporting and build credible go-forward plans.

Sustainability teams will increasingly look to partner with travel leaders to build credible plans and implement systems of action that align carbon reduction with cost efficiencies. Taken as a whole, we are entering a new era of carbon and cash accountability – one that will be shaped less by political consensus and more by business foresight.

The business benefits of getting this right

The pressure is real, but so is the opportunity. Investors are demanding the demonstration of credible paths towards sustainability targets, not just glossy reports.

Customers – especially those with suppliers in travel-heavy industries like professional services, financial services and tech – are embedding these questions into most RFPs when selecting suppliers. And the global regulatory tide, from CSRD to the ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board) and beyond, ensures that inaction in one market won't shield a company from exposure in another.

The companies that lead in this moment will be those that shift from reporting to real planning – embedding carbon forecasting, distributed carbon targets and decision-making tools directly into how travel is planned, approved and managed.

We’re already seeing this play out: forward-thinking enterprises are deploying carbon budgets for travel, enabling regional leaders to manage emissions like they manage cash.

With clear guardrails and real-time visibility, we’ve seen case studies of enterprises successfully reducing 88 per cent of business class bookings without even changing travel policies – proving that smarter planning and targets can yield much better cash and carbon savings than the traditional approach of mandated but often unfollowed travel policies.

Putting it into practice

To thrive in this new landscape, corporate travel stakeholders – buyers and suppliers alike – must adapt. For certain suppliers and enterprises, sustainability will shift from a top priority to a secondary one, which means achievement or development of targets will slip in the near term. This will likely be the case for organisations whose leadership does not believe sustainability equates to business value nor does climate change create any risks to their business.

However, most will likely continue to invest at their current levels or accelerate investment ahead, and companies seeking to create a business advantage through advancements in sustainability should consider three key strategies.

Treat carbon like currency: Start planning travel emissions the same way you plan your spend. Set carbon targets that can eventually become budgets by region, team or business unit. Track performance through modern purpose-built software and empower budget holders with data to make smart tradeoffs between cost, carbon and business impact.

Shift from annual reporting to business planning: Most companies only measure emissions after the fact. That’s no longer enough. Modern sustainability planning means modelling predictive travel scenarios in advance and projecting how policy, supplier mix, cabin class and frequency will affect both emissions and costs. Tools that support this will become as essential as your TMC or OBT.

Move beyond dashboards to integrated systems of action: Every senior leader in a business knows how to manage the constraints of their team’s cash to hit their collective goals. In a world where retaining business with key customers means emissions must also be managed to a target, these leaders need more than historical reports – they need integrated systems of action that dynamically surface insights to power smarter, faster real-time business decisions.

The bottom line

This emerging era is clearly asking more from travel leaders than ever before. The travel programmes that align carbon and cost planning, that leverage modern technologies to ensure spend and carbon data are both first class citizens, and that successfully partner with best-in-class solutions to enhance cost-efficient, sustainable decision-making… they will be the ones that define the coming era of business travel.