Analysis: Sustainability in the age of Covid

While the global travel industry has suffered dearly in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, one can’t ignore the numerous examples of nature thriving as humans stopped travelling these last few months. Dolphins swimming in Italy's usually busy cruise ports and Venice's famous canals running clear; sea turtles nesting undisturbed on the world’s empty beaches; CO2 emissions plummeting in major economies with fewer cars on the roads and flights all but coming to a halt.

But scientists and environmental groups have been warning the global population not to get complacent, saying this temporary shut-down will not be enough to change the downward spiral of climate change in the long term. Just this week teenage activist Greta Thunberg told BBC News the world needs to learn lessons from the coronavirus crisis and treat the climate emergency with the same urgency.

Here in Europe, several major airlines have already restarted some operations or plan to do so in the coming weeks. As such, some corporates are considering how and when to get their employees back on the road to see clients and prospects after so long. While traveller safety is obviously a key component of any changes to travel policies, could this also be an opportunity for travel managers to hit the reset button on their programme’s sustainability efforts?

Looking ahead
Several pieces of research would suggest the issue of carbon emissions has not waned in the minds of corporates during the pandemic; in the run-up to its virtual conference in May, the Institute of Travel Management (ITM) conducted a survey of its buyer members and found more than half (56 per cent) said the prioritisation of sustainable travel will remain the same as the industry gets moving again, while 40 per cent said it will be an even higher priority. Only 4 per cent believe it will become less important.

In a survey of its own members, the Climate Action for Corporate Travel Urgent Sustainability Summit (CACTUS) revealed a resounding 93 per cent strongly agree or agree that the Covid-19 pandemic has provided travel managers with an opportunity to create “a more sustainable and viable future for the planet”.

Furthermore, the CACTUS respondents agreed that without mitigation action business travel emissions will return to previous levels, though 69 per cent believe it will take a while and 24 per cent think it will happen fairly quickly.

When asked what factors will affect the sector’s impact on climate change in the future, 20 per cent said they believe there will be decreased emissions through less travel due to the emergence of homeworking and the use of virtual technology during the pandemic.

In a statement, CACTUS said: “It is really clear that life in front of a video camera has not gone unnoticed and this is by far the most cited means by which the group expects to see reduced emissions.”

That’s a sentiment that was shared at the ITM Virtual Conference by Karen Hutchings, EY’s global travel, meetings and events leader, who said her company will be considering the elimination of one-day trips moving forwards. “It’s probably safe to say there has been some unnecessary travel in the past,” Hutchings said. “Think about the number of trips that haven’t happened now. Why do we need these when there is good technology out there?”

Pierre-Emanuel Tetaz, EMEA SVP and general manager at SAP Concur, said during a recent webinar on the company’s 2020 Corporate Travel Sustainability Index that some of his company’s clients are making similar considerations, pointing to the CEO of pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk telling a local news outlet that he would stop making day trips and instead use video conferencing from now on. “He said that was one of the key learnings of the Covid crisis. It’s really important to see CEOs making these kinds of bold statements right now,” Tetaz commented.

SAP carried out a survey for its 2020 index right before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the industry, but Tetaz said if anything the virus will be an accelerator for the sustainability issue.

“We have to acknowledge the fact that the economic situation is not necessarily great, and many organisations are suffering, so overall travel spend will be under pressure,” Tetaz said. “This could mean that people will travel less but might be willing to spend a bit more per trip – unit cost may change slightly and part of that will be because people are going to want to make more sustainable choices.”

Driven by travellers
As Millennial and Gen Z employees continue to make up larger and larger portions of the working population, the focus on sustainability has been driven by business traveller sentiment. In SAP Concur’s research, 59 per cent of travellers think sustainability is a very important aspect of corporate travel, and 58 per cent would willingly exceed or disregard budgets or policies to choose a “greener” travel option. Furthermore, 97 per cent are willing to invest extra journey time in pursuit of more sustainable options, such as travelling by train rather than flying.

However, CACTUS warns that “personal travel choices and restrictions placed through health concerns” could drive travellers to believe cars would be the better option to protect themselves on short-haul journeys, which would be “completely counter to the needs of the planet”. The group has recommended its buyer members shift some of their sustainability focus to areas of ground transportation since air travel “will be impacted to a degree far beyond any previous expectations”. 

Regardless, it would appear that corporates are starting to take notice of their employees’ sentiments; almost all of the companies surveyed by SAP Concur (98 per cent) are prepared to allocate additional spend towards sustainability programmes over and above the current travel management budget. While Tetaz admitted this could have changed slightly in the wake of the Covid crisis, the goal of any policy changes should be to balance people, the planet and profit.

And Tetaz also believes the coronavirus situation could be the turning point travel managers needed to begin mandating more sustainable choices. “We’re seeing more clients using pre-trip approval processes as we emerge from Covid, for various reasons, and I think this could be a good starting point for becoming more sustainable too,” he said.