Ramona Bouw (centre) with Marjan Verbeek, strategic partnership manager at Climate Neutral Group (left) and NATM managing director Odete Pimenta da Silva (right)
The Netherlands Association for Travel Management (NATM) has named KPMG service manager, travel Ramona Bouw, as the winner of its 2022 Sustainable Business Travel Award during the association's annual Sustainable Business Travel Forum this week.
NATM managing director, Odete Pimenta da Silva, said the award is presented to the travel manager who has made “the most distinctive contribution in the field of sustainable business travel”.
“This does not mean that there must be a fully worked out plan at different levels, [but] it is important that the travel manager is able to take steps forward to change policy and behaviour and knows how to create support within their organisation,” she added.
According to the association, Bouw has implemented a sustainable business travel policy in line with KPMG’s sustainability goals, which includes a 50 per cent carbon reduction target by 2030, validated by the by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Pimenta da Silva said KPMG has “converted the knowledge and experiences of Covid-19 into an adapted travel policy”, adding that data insights and reporting are “an essential part” of the policy, while short reporting lines have allowed the company to act quickly.
“The most important thing is that the traveller is involved, KPMG evaluates the travel policy, and the travel agent is aligned as well,” she said.
Alongside Bouw, Lisette Koning, procurement consultant at Dutch bank ABN AMRO, was named this year’s award runner up.
“It was a close call as both candidates are really driving sustainable business travel within their company,” said Pimenta da Silva.
Launched in 2016, the association’s Sustainable Business Travel Award aims to raise awareness and support for sustainable travel policy, assessing the sustainability objectives of a company’s business travel policy as well as the travel manager’s vision and impact.
The award follows a two-part judging process, where member votes for shortlisted candidates are combined with a jury verdict. This year’s judging panel consisted of NATM’s Pimenta da Silva and Marjan Verbeek, strategic partnership manager at Climate Neutral Group.