Travel management company (TMC), BCD Travel, has extended its carbon emissions reporting worldwide and partnered with carbon offset company, Atmosfair, in response to growing customer demand for sustainable travel solutions.
”Our customers continue to focus on maximum savings and maximum efficiency in the management of their travel programmes,” said BCD executive vice president for products, technology and supplier relations, Dee Runyan. ”But increasingly, they want to get their results with minimum environmental impact.”
BCD Travel recently introduced a global corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy (click here to read the story), continuing the company's drive to enhance its Responsible Travel Management offering in the areas of sustainability (reducing the environmental impact of travel) and accountability (improving risk management, security and traveller wellbeing).
A CO2 emission tracker is now available to BCD's customers worldwide as an integrated tool within the information management solution, DecisionSource: Data Manager. The system adheres to both DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the UK) and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting standards.
”You cannot change what you cannot measure,” said BCD subsidiary, Advito general manager, Mary Ellen George. ”Obtaining a clear understanding of your company's carbon ”spend” is one of the first steps you must take in establishing a truly sustainable travel programme.”
And for the second step, offsetting, the company says that potential offset partners went through a rigorous screening process and had to fulfil key criteria, such as percentage of income directly involved in offsetting projects; the quality of those projects; third-party verification; price per ton of carbon offset; degree of detailed information supplied; and company profile (profit or non-profit).
Atmosfair is a non-profit organisation initiated by German tour operator association Forum Anders Reisen, currently involved in carbon offsetting projects such as the use of solar energy to power cookers in Indian rice kitchens and recycling sewage water from a palm-oil factory in Thailand. It adheres to the Gold Standard for emissions calculation, one of the most stringent third-party levels.