The role of the corporate travel manager has evolved beyond just booking trips and optimising costs. Today, sustainability is a core consideration, as businesses seek to reduce their environmental impact while maintaining financial efficiency. However, balancing sustainability goals with budget constraints is not always straightforward.
Corporate travel programmes must deliver measurable progress in reducing emissions while ensuring business trips remain cost effective and operationally viable. This guide provides actionable insights for travel managers looking to create a responsible travel programme, one that aligns with corporate objectives without resorting to misleading sustainability claims.
Why sustainability in corporate travel matters
Business travel plays a crucial role in company growth, fostering client relationships, and driving innovation. However, it contributes significantly to carbon emissions, making it essential for companies to adopt practical strategies to reduce their environmental impact. Many organisations have set ambitious climate targets, but achieving them requires transparency, measurable action, and informed decision-making.
A successful corporate strategy must strike the right balance:
- Ensuring essential travel is conducted responsibly by optimising routes, choosing lower-emission transport methods, and encouraging virtual meetings
- Reducing emissions through practical measures, such as selecting direct flights, favouring rail travel over short-haul air routes, and opting for economy class over business class
- Maintaining cost efficiency by evaluating financial trade-offs and ensuring sustainable choices do not lead to excessive spending
Key challenges in business travel and sustainability
Travel managers face a unique set of challenges when implementing sustainability measures:
Cost vs. environmental impact
Sustainable travel options, such as direct flights and rail travel, may come at a premium. Organisations must carefully weigh financial trade-offs while considering the long-term benefits of lower emissions and operational efficiency.
Focusing solely on short-term cost savings can also lead to higher long-term financial risks, such as exposure to rising carbon taxes, regulatory penalties, and supplier price fluctuations. Balancing these factors is key and one way to do it is by implementing carbon budgets.
Access to reliable data
Travel managers need clear, verifiable emissions data to track progress effectively. Many traditional reporting systems lack the necessary granularity, making informed decision-making more difficult.
Avoiding greenwashing
Vague terms like “eco-friendly” or “carbon-neutral flights” can be misleading. Transparency and substantiated claims are essential to maintain credibility and avoid reputational risks.
How to build a responsible, cost-effective travel programme
- Prioritise smarter travel decisions
- Encourage employees to assess whether a trip is necessary or if a virtual meeting could be an alternative.
- Favour train travel over short-haul flights where feasible, reducing both emissions and travel costs.
- Promote economy class over business class where possible, since business class seats take up more space, their per-passenger emissions are higher.
- Work with suppliers committed to transparency
- Partner with airlines, hotels, and ground transport providers that provide verified emissions data.
- Choose hotels that disclose their energy and water usage rather than relying on generic sustainability certifications.
- Invest in technology for real-time data
- Use platforms that provide precise, trip-level emissions calculations to make informed decisions.
- Ensure that sustainability reports include concrete figures rather than general claims.
- Establish clear internal guidelines
- Develop a corporate travel policy that integrates sustainability without creating excessive costs.
- Offer employees the ability to choose responsible travel options within defined budget parameters.
- Educate and empower travellers
- Provide employees with resources on how their choices impact the company’s environmental goals.
- Make sustainable travel options visible and easy to select within booking tools.
How to avoid greenwashing in corporate travel policies
The growing pressure to showcase sustainability efforts, has, at times, led companies to adopt misleading or vague language. To avoid greenwashing, travel managers must employ precise language and back every claim with measurable data.
Rather than relying on terms like “eco-friendly” or “green”, it is vital to provide specific figures or percentage reductions relative to a baseline. Moreover, when offsets are a component of the travel programme, it is important to clearly explain how they function and whether they result in permanent reductions.
Ultimately, reporting should focus on actual, measurable impacts rather than simply stating aspirational goals without follow-through. This approach upholds corporate integrity while building trust with stakeholders.
A balanced approach is the way forward
Sustainable business travel does not have to come at the expense of budgets. By making informed choices, leveraging technology, and prioritising transparency, travel managers can implement meaningful sustainability initiatives while keeping costs under control.
The Atriis-SQUAKE partnership provides a practical, verifiable framework for reaching net zero in corporate travel. By integrating real-time emissions data and responsible carbon reduction initiatives, businesses can meet their sustainability goals without greenwashing or unnecessary spending.
The future of corporate travel lies in responsible decision-making, where sustainability is integrated into policies with measurable impact and financial prudence. With the right approach, businesses can meet their environmental targets while continuing to facilitate essential travel.
How Atriis and SQUAKE are driving sustainability in corporate travel
Atriis, committed to responsible travel, has forged a strategic partnership with SQUAKE, a leading provider of verifiable sustainability solutions for the travel industry.
This collaboration empowers corporate travel managers with access to precise, trip-level CO2 emission calculations, enabling them to make data-driven travel decisions. SQUAKE integrates science-backed carbon reduction, removal, and compensation projects directly into travel programmes, ensuring that companies support effective environmental solutions.
This partnership also helps mitigate the risks associated with greenwashing by embedding a comprehensive greenwashing checklist into the process. This ensures that all sustainability claims are substantiated, preserving the integrity of corporate communications. In essence, the combined strength of Atriis and SQUAKE allows travel managers to easily measure, report, and act on travel emissions without sacrificing budget efficiency.
