Doing the right THING

Travel and hospitality brands are finally backing up their talk about sustainability with real action, says Gillian Upton

When Sir Elton John leapt to the defence of Prince Harry and wife Meghan in August for flying by private jet to his villa in Nice by saying that he offset the carbon emissions, it didn’t really wash.

Carbon offsetting was initially sold as an easy trade off. Companies could invest in various environmental projects that reduce greenhouse gases in order to compensate for the emissions made elsewhere.

Environmental groups now view carbon offsetting as a distraction from reducing emissions first and foremost. Offsetting should be a last resort. So how green is the business travel world? Studies highlight that 40% of companies are finding it hard to become more sustainable, with cost proving the biggest barrier.

“They’ll have to absorb the cost,” says Vanessa Bailey, Director of Client

Partnerships at Business Travel Direct. “All we can do is present the options but the decision has to be made at board level. Usually the sustainability team want to reduce CO2 but the travel team are looking at cost.”

Many planet-friendly initiatives are not cost neutral but it is also abundantly clear that consumers want action, otherwise they will vote with their feet. According to a study from WRAP, 67% of UK consumers would boycott brands that lack an ethical conscience, a value that miilennials – who will make up the bulk of employees over the next few years – hold dear. Miilennial and Gen Z employees rank sustainability as a leading concern when evaluating employers.

Chris Bowen, Managing Director EMEA at CWT, reckons that the tipping point is fast approaching. “Budget versus mis-perceived additional sustainable trip costs are a frequent discussion point as many travellers continue to prefer individual comfort versus more sustainable options,” he says. “However, we are starting to see a shift with changing employee demographics.”

World view

Sustainability is high on government and public agendas and is no longer a box-ticking exercise, particularly today when business is wide open to public view. Moreover, C-level executives are mindful of minimising reputational damage.

Most business tenders today will request details of carbon capture and sustainability goals, and TMCS are increasingly being asked by clients for best practice and how they can change traveller behaviour.

“Corporates want to travel less and travel smarter and not necessarily focus on the cost,” says Click Travel’s Director of Sales and Implementation, Vicki Williams.

The UK government has a target to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050 and to ban the sale of all petrol and diesel cars by 2040. It declared a Climate Emergency earlier this summer, the first G7 country to do so.

Industry-specific goals strengthen the message. The European Union wants the airline industry to reduce emissions of CO2 by 75%, slash nitrogen oxides by 90% and cut noise by 65% by 2050. In 2020 a Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for international aviation comes into force that has been agreed by 70 countries. With passenger numbers set to double to some 8.2 billion by 2037, Boeing forecasts that more than 40,000 new aircraft will be flying by then.

Most corporates start by tackling their carbon footprint from air travel as it’s usually the largest. The Dutch-based Carbon Neutral Group reckons a return trip to New York causes the same amount of CO2 as heating a family house in the Netherlands for a year.

In terms of travel policy, travellers have myriad options, many of which do save money. Flying less is the biggest cost saving, along with using more audio or video conferencing (once you have factored in the cost of the equipment needed). Flying direct cuts emissions, but is usually more costly. Flying from closer-in regional airports is a carbon-friendly action, so too is taking the lowest carbon flight. Reducing the number of business class flights saves money, while choosing the train rather than the plane for short trips under 400km is another planetfriendly strategy – CO2 emissions from train travel are about 80% less than flying.

Booking an electric car rather than a petrol/diesel vehicle, instigating car pooling, replacing the company’s grey fleet with a more sustainable company car fleet, and ensuring sustainable procurement are all good green practices too.

Travel class does impact on emissions as business class seats take up far more room in a plane and therefore a larger proportion of the emissions are assigned to premium passengers. Ruling out business class and first class for flights under 5,000km delivers savings of 131 tonnes of CO2, and this trading down in class has the added benefit of significant cost savings.

Planet-friendly initiatives are not cost neutral but it is abundantly clear that consumers want action, otherwise they will vote with their feet”