Press Release
For Immediate Release
6 April 2009
ACTE AND BRITISH AIRWAYS KEEP IT GREEN
Alexandria, VA -- The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) and British Airways have combined forces to make the association’s Washington, D.C. Global Education Conference, held this week, one of its greenest yet.
British Airways has helped ACTE address the carbon impact of its conferences by supporting the work of The Converging World (TCW) – a UK ba
“Good corporate citizenship is about being environmentally and socially responsible. ACTE was the first in the business travel industry to take a leadership position on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a position it has held for the past five years,” Susan Gurley, ACTE Executive Director, said. “ACTE is fortunate to have the support of British Airways, one of our key strategic partners and sponsors. We’re delighted to be working with them once again to manage the carbon emitted by attendees' travel to and from the conference.”
Richard Tams, British Airways' head of UK & Ireland, added; "We're delighted to support ACTE for the third year running and in particular this year’s Washington, D.C. conference. As an industry, we all need to take responsibility for our impact on the environment and do all we can to minimise against it. It needs to be at the forefront of everything we do and we need to lead the rest of the travel industry by example."
TCW invests in large-scale renewable energy projects in the developing world and uses the returns generated to fund community-ba
A CSR session, Finding the Green by Greening Your Travel Program, was offered at the ACTE Global Education Conference in Washington, D.C. Leading organizations such as Advito, Autodesk, Inc. and U.S. Green Building Council examined the intersection of a green travel program and realistic cost savings available in the current economic environment.
ACTE committed to hosting a CSR-empowered event. This included choosing a venue for its green initiatives, using at least 25 percent post-consumer recycled materials for programs, tote bags, and lanyards, and supplying attendees with USB drives to limit the need to print session handouts and white papers.
ACTE launched its CSR Initiative in 2004. It was the first organization in the business travel industry to recognize this key issue, and to educate members on the positive corporate and social benefits of sound CSR practices.
In the last five years, ACTE has engaged in numerous global CSR initiatives, including:
* Instituting, in 2006, an Environmental Considerations RFP document for green meetings
* The ACTE/KDS Survey on the impact of CSR in the business travel industry (its fourth year)
* Partnering with Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD), a major German transport and environmental organization, on its Green Travel Project
* Hosting carbon-low global conferences in partnership with Marriott and British Airways (the ACTE Global Conference in Munich, October 2008, resulted in a reduction of 674.6 tons of CO2)
* Global Symposium at the ACTE Asia-Pacific Education Conference in August 2008 on Mainstreaming CSR in Business Travel Management
* Partnering with The CarbonNeutral Company to provide a travel carbon calculator to members to measure their emissions
* White paper, Carbon Neutrality – An integral part of the corporate travel supply-chain, ba
* Support of the United Nations Global Compact
* Member of the UNEP International Taskforce on Sustainable Tourism Development
* Partnering with international organizations such as International Office of Migration (IOM) MTV Exit Europe Foundation and ECPAT to end exploitation and trafficking of women and children
ACTE incorporates environmentally-friendly practices into its global conferences, and remains committed to reducing carbon emissions at all events. Twice a year, ACTE gives its CSR Award, the first of its kind in the industry, to those business travel executives who incorporate eco-sensitive practices into their travel programs.
For more information on ACTE and its CSR initiatives, please click HERE.
ABOUT ACTE:
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) represents the global business travel industry through its international advocacy efforts, executive level educational programs, and independent industry research. ACTE's membership consists of senior travel industry executives from 82 countries representing the €463 billion business travel industry. Our members serve more than 12 million business travellers worldwide. With the support of sponsors from every major segment of the business travel industry, ACTE develops and delivers educational programs in key business centers throughout the world. ACTE has representation in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and the United States. For more information on ACTE, please go to www.acte.org.
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