Before the financial crash, the subject of sustainability was high on the corporate agenda. Green travel was discussed in the pages of trade magazines and in panel sessions at industry forums. CO2 (carbon dioxide, often referred to simply as carbon) calculators and emissions reduction programmes were de rigueur.
But after the meltdown, the corporate world became obsessed with cost reduction. Investment in sustainable development dried up in many organisations.
Whether people admit it or not, the environment usually plays second fiddle to profit. Organisations such as the GBTA, ITM and ACTE worked hard to keep the topic alive. Some well-resourced companies were also able to retain partial focus through the downturn.
Now, sustainability is well and truly back on the agenda, but not just because the economy is bouncing back. Government legislation in the UK and in Europe is making it harder for public and private sector bodies to ignore.
The Specialist
Bernard Harrop, head of sustainability, Project Icarus, GBTA Foundation
Having a sustainable travel programme for business travel and meetings is no longer simply a nice thing to do. A requirement for greater transparency from stakeholders, staff and customers, linked to a growth in UK and European Union legislation, is making it a necessity. A GBTA survey found that more than 57 per cent of European companies have sustainability initiatives in their travel policy, while 52 per cent think sustainability is now more important than two years ago. The most common sustainability initiative is the management of CO2 emissions.
When creating a CO2 reduction programme, start with the end in mind and follow a process that delivers measurable and achievable results. Showing a return on investment, alongside gaining support and engagement of both the company leadership and frequent travellers, is key to achieving your target.
There are several steps to this. First, identify your company’s key corporate sustainability objectives and align the travel programme. Seek out environmental experts in your company. Second, collect CO2 data from key suppliers, as well as TMCs [travel management companies], online self-booking tool providers and credit card companies. Define a high-level set of goals and objectives in line with your company’s current environment policy. Then, calculate the potential reduction in total CO2: for example, a 5 per cent reduction in year one, rising to 15 per cent the following year.
Then, create a programme that identifies ways to minimise business travel and meetings emissions. That could be better managing the demand for travel or choosing lower CO2 options to also reduce emissions per trip. Companies can invest in CO2 offsets to compensate for the emissions produced.
Finally, implement the programme. Don’t skimp on resources. Be prepared to invest over a sustained period. Integrate and align new travel procedures to ensure business-as-usual.
The success of any programme will come by gaining management endorsement, being patient, delivering clear motivational communications, recognising success and maximising employee engagement.
The Buyers
Angela Smith. travel manager, Carillion
Many companies nowadays have some sort of sustainability programme. However, if you are just starting out you need to consider how people travel; look at other ways they could meet that would reduce your CO2. Around 80 per cent of our travel is domestic. Therefore, we look to encourage people to go by train instead of plane where possible. This is done through regular communication at booker forums, in newsletters and email alerts. We also use self-booking tools to communicate messages to employees at the point of booking.
It’s also important to have your sustainability goals in the travel policy. Make sure there is regular reference to these goals when communicating with bookers and travellers. Setting a reduction target is also a good idea, as it lets you work towards something and ensures you don’t get complacent. You could also communicate how you are doing towards this target, on perhaps a quarterly basis.
You need to engage suppliers – particularly TMCs, as they need to know what you want to achieve – and at the same time you need to be happy that they are also working in line with these goals within their own company. If you want to go further, you may want to engage with airlines to find out what type of aircraft they use. It may be one of the deciding factors when choosing a preferred carrier. Look at hotel partners and engage them in discussions about sustainability at review meetings.
Will Hasler, travel manager, PWC
Sustainability is now a major area of business. Government legislation makes the topic impossible to ignore. PWC UK started measuring CO2 in 2007. As it sells intellect and not tangible products, clients often insist PWC staff work in their offices. While the clients have reduced heating and light in their buildings, air travel carbon has increased as a percentage of overall emissions. In the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [Defra] provides the measurements. It is a credible government department, not a supplier telling you how ethical they are. Defra supplies multipliers for the type of trip. Your TMC tells you the mileage of the flight and you have your CO2 output. PWC soon refined its results by stripping out non-billable/business development flights, which we were more in control of.
Challenges? Once you start, you want more granular measures so you can track more accurately. For example, how old is the plane? Why can’t we differentiate between diesel and electric trains? Why is the hotel industry so poor at providing robust data? Most hotel spend is spread over too many suppliers and no one third party reports on more than a few chains.
Another frustration is that Defra refines air measurements periodically to take account of different atmospheric gasses. You then restate all prior years so you are comparing like-with-like. On a non travel-related emission issue, if you are tenant in a landlord-run building, you may not be able to change quickly the way you heat and light your floor.
Changing how a corporation conducts business, especially in an upturn, is challenging in an un-mandated environment. It’s easy for more traditionally ‘green’ organisations, such as the WWF [World Wide Fund for Nature], to ban domestic flights, but if PWC did that, it would lose consultants and auditors to its competitors.