Companies Committed to Sustainability Round Worker Travel Programs

When it involves having an affect on the Earth’s carbon footprint, international enterprise journey, estimated to generate $157 trillion in annual spending, wears some fairly massive footwear. That’s why the GBTA Foundation, the non-profit, purpose-led arm of the Global Business Travel Association, has taken on the mission of elevating sustainability consciousness amongst patrons and suppliers in addition to measuring what progress is being made.  

So how are issues going? Despite present setbacks in federal environmental insurance policies, the newest GBTA Foundation findings point out that whereas progress could also be slower than desired, firms are nonetheless dedicated to monitoring and managing carbon emissions generated from their worker journey packages. There have additionally been measurable positive factors within the maturity of those journey packages and extra organizations are becoming a member of the hassle.  

Acceleration Challenge 

The 2025 findings are the outcomes of the GBTA Foundation’s Sustainability Acceleration Challenge, which was launched two years in the past to monitor sustainable enterprise journey exercise amongst collaborating firms. Some 285 firms, representing an annual journey spend of $31 billion participated within the benchmarking problem, a 20 % improve within the variety of contributors the 12 months earlier than.  

“It’s an annual benchmarking exercise, which plays a dual role,” mentioned Kelsey Frenkiel, Director, Sustainability Programs, for the GBTA Foundation. “It’s an assessment to figure out the maturity level of travel programs and sustainability. We ask such questions as whether or not they have a policy on sustainability and if they are asking suppliers about what they are doing. We also worked with Accenture to develop a scoring methodology from 0 to 5 for each participant.” 

With a rating of 0 indicating “no activity” and 5 indicating “leading practice,” the 2025 problem outcomes confirmed a slight improve, with a median rating of 1.4 in comparison with 1.3 in 2024.  

The problem outcomes revealed some variations between firm measurement and business sector. Companies with smaller (below $5 million) journey packages made notable progress, whereas the most important packages (over $500 million) regressed general. The distinction, in accordance with GBTA, signifies that bigger firms could also be slowing their sustainability efforts because of intense public scrutiny, whereas smaller firms might view sustainability management to distinguish themselves. Among industries, the monetary, banking and insurance coverage sectors scored highest (1.9), adopted by the skilled companies and consulting sector (1.7).   

Overall, firms confirmed essentially the most progress when it got here to constructing reporting and concentrating on settings into their journey packages. Areas the place enchancment is most urgently wanted included adopting instruments that affect reserving selections, together with adopting sustainable procurement practices and carbon administration methods.  

According to Frenkiel, the truth that this 12 months’s scores have been in optimistic territory got here as a reduction. 

“We were worried, as there’s been a lot of news that companies are scaling back,” she mentioned. “What we found, however, is that people are not backing down. Companies may not be talking as much about sustainability measures as they once were, but they still have them and are progressing.” 

Frenkiel believes there may be cause for optimism, with sustainable journey practices having “become part of the DNA” at many firms. 

“It’s harder for them to abandon these practices now,” she mentioned. “If you take a big multi-national company, sustainability is now embedded into all their different departments. Even if they get rid of their sustainability team, it’s not the end of it. Their travel team, their procurement team still have the policies. They have become embedded in their fabric. Policy is a big driver and so are customer expectations, investor expectations. As long as those drivers are still there, we will continue to see those practices.” 

Not solely do firms should be aware of buyer and investor expectations on sustainability and the affect this has on their reputations, they have to take their worker expectations under consideration, in accordance with Frenkiel.  

“Generation Z expects their employers to value sustainability,” she mentioned.  

Hotel Partners 

While air journey is commonly the foremost focus in decreasing the carbon footprint, accommodations and occasion venues additionally play an necessary function in sustainable journey. According to Frenkiel, many accommodations and occasion venues are making necessary strides in such areas as renewable vitality, waste and water administration, and utilizing domestically sourced, plant-based meals, however lack an efficient framework for speaking their efforts.   

 “We’re looking for ways to help them standardize conversations about sustainability with their key customers,” she mentioned. “One big questions buyers have is what kind of certification hotels have. We have a whole education guide on hotel sustainability for buyers that explains the different certifications. We encourage buyers to learn about this and what they mean.”  

Frenkiel added {that a} rising variety of accommodations are emphasizing sustainability in worker coaching, together with the way it pertains to procurement insurance policies and procedures. “We are releasing a suite of educational resources and assessment tools designed to help buyers and hotels.”  

When it involves occasion administration, Frenkiel urges planners to not solely measure the carbon footprint of occasions, however use the data to trace progress and set targets for enchancment.  

“It’s hard to improve year over year if you’re not tracking the impact of your event, and there are many tools out there to help you do this,” she mentioned. “And don’t be afraid to try new things. For example, a lot of hotels have really good options for vegan and vegetarian choices, and conference attendees often find plant-based menus help keep them energized and focused. Don’t get stuck in old standards.”  

Where Luxury and Sustainability Co-Exist  

Does a lodge’s full-on dedication to sustainability imply compromises in offering a premium visitor expertise? Not on the Populus Denver, the place look after the atmosphere is mirrored in myriad methods, amongst them beautiful biophilic design, thermal and waste administration effectivity and neighborhood partnerships that embrace sourcing meals from native farms and planting a tree in a nationwide forest for each room night time bought.  

Thomas Hudson, Environmental Experience Manager for Aparium Hotels, the mother or father firm for Populus Denver and Populus Seattle, believes the Populus Denver helps redefine the luxurious lodge expertise.  

“There’s an older way of thinking about luxury, which has to do with excess and decadence, and a modern way, which is the direction we’ve taken it,” he mentioned. “It has more to do with quality over quantity, with providing a feeling of calm that you get from an environment using non-synthetic materials like natural stone and wood. Where you can take a breath after a busy travel day.”  

Guest responses to the lodge’s sustainability focus have been optimistic, even from those that aren’t significantly enthusiastic about environmental points, in accordance with Hudson.  

“We don’t overtly emphasize what we’re doing, but we do reward curiosity and our service team will work it into the conversation where it makes sense,” he mentioned. “Our business guests love to know they are responsible for planting a tree every night even if they’re part of a corporate room block.”