Survey

14 February 2007

ACTE/KDS Survey: Companies must take serious act on business travel carbon emissions

-- Companies have yet to seriously tackle the carbon emissions generated through their business travel, according to a global survey conducted by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) and KDS. At a press conference held at Business Travel Show in London, senior executives from both organisations called on companies and business travel providers to do more to close the gap between good environmental intentions and current industry practice.

The ACTE/KDS survey sampled opinion from over 200 travel managers and business travellers around the world during December 2006 and January 2007. It found that only a third of companies presently have travel policies that promote sustainable travel. While a further third were said to have such schemes under development many policies appear to lack teeth, as only 20 percent of respondents said that companies encourage their staff to use travel providers with lower carbon emissions or a proper environmental charter.

Carbon emissions from business travel presently appear to receive little attention from senior management. Only 20 percent of respondents said their company travel departments were required to produce carbon emissions reports for senior management. At a time that company leaders are increasingly expected to address their firms’ environmental stance, it appears that business travel remains a neglected part of the equation.

The environment is seen to fare poorly against companies’ other major travel concerns. Employee Security came top, with 81 percent of respondents feeling it was a High priority; Cost Control came second, with 77 percent ranking it as a High priority; in contrast, most respondents (45 percent) saw Environmental Sustainability as a Llow priority, with only 20 percent ranking it a High priority for companies.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, therefore, companies also appear reluctant to cut down on travel in order to reduce emissions. Only 23 percent of respondents said their company had encouraged journeys to be reduced to support environmental sustainability.

Following the recently published fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, companies are expected to come under increasing pressure to reduce carbon emissions in all aspects of their work. On 7 February 2007, British Environment Secretary David Miliband called on businesses to step up their efforts on climate change and alter their businesses ‘as a matter of financial self-interest’.

Susan Gurley, executive director and chief staff officer of ACTE, says, “Many companies have already committed themselves to reducing their environmental impact and the IPCC report will likely bring many more into the fold. Corporate travel is a significant area for potential improvements and ACTE will be working closely with travel professionals to spread the knowledge and skills that can help businesses meet this challenge.”

Yves Weisselberger, CEO of KDS, observes, “In our experience, most companies are sincere in their desire to cut and manage their emissions and see travel as an area where improvements can be made. However, they are currently held back because the market doesn’t offer them the right tools to do this efficiently or on a large scale. Businesses need to be able to gauge carbon emissions when planning a trip, to weigh up greener alternatives at a glance, and to quickly generate management reports that give them a handle on this new area of data. KDS believes that the next generation of travel and expense management tools will introduce this capability and help companies truly align their corporate social responsibility and travel policies.”

ACTE and KDS highlighted that the business travel industry also has a vital role to play in helping companies make greener choices. Until such time that low emissions options become widely available in all aspects of travel and accommodation, companies will be frustrated in their efforts to lessen their environmental impact.