Why is it important?
In a globalised world where travelling has become an every-day activity and air travel is considered a social norm, aviation has become one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, currently contributing to 2.4% of global CO2e emissions(1). By 2050, this share could increase to 22%(2). When including non-CO2 effects (mainly formation of persistent contrails and atmospheric reactions driven by NOx emissions), aviation contributed to 4% of the global temperature increase since pre-industrial times.(3) At a sectorial level, professional travel represents 7% of the total carbon footprint of the international aid sector.(4)
Aviation is one of the hardest industries to decarbonise due to its reliance on fossil fuels and the sector being “locked” in infrastructure that takes time to renew.(5) Historically, the growth of the sector has outpaced fuel efficiency improvements: Despite the continuous improvement in the energy efficiency of aircraft, CO2 emissions increased by 42% between 2005 and 2019 solely due to the growth in air traffic.(6) Projections show that total passenger traffic worldwide is predicted to grow 4.3% each year from 2023 to 2042.(7)
Thus, the first and most impactful action to reduce travel-related emissions is to drastically reduce the number of flights. In order to achieve ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets, it is essential for organisations to set targets to reduce professional travel emissions and implement strategic actions aimed at reducing air travel.(8)
What's the solution?
Many flights are seen as “necessary” and “unavoidable,” but it is essential to question this perceived necessity, as many flights are not truly indispensable.(9)
The most effective way for organisations to reduce their travel carbon footprint is to reduce travel needs, particularly air travel. This involves identifying reasons for travel to find alternatives, shifting meetings and events online when possible, and reviewing the necessity and location of in-person meetings. It also includes reducing the number of participants traveling, combining trips to minimise flights, and extending assignment times. Furthermore, hiring locally to limit international travel and encourage regional commuting is important, as is updating HR policies to incentivise reduced travel. This should be part of a broader strategy to lower the organisation’s carbon footprint.
Point of attention
-
Point of attention
Reducing aviation demand: To decarbonise the aviation sector, parameters such as energy efficiency and carbon intensity of fuels are important to factor in, in addition to reducing demand. However, a single organisation does not have leeway to change fuels for specific flights or exclusively use the most efficient aircraft, and even less so for structural conditions, such as airport infrastructure, aircraft compatibility, clean-fuel availability and costs. At an organisational level, the most impactful way to reduce emissions is therefore to focus on reducing flights. By putting attention on the number of passengers and freight kilometres travelled, organisations have direct control on their emissions.(10)
Key actions
-
#1 Question the reasons for travelling
Identifying travel reasons and the groups who fly within an organisation helps determine reduction levers. Reconsidering a travel choice, reviewing and reducing relevant reasons for travelling allows to significantly limit air travel.(17)
-
#2 Switch to online meetings and events
Switch to online meetings and events whenever possible, as not every discussion needs to be held in person. This involves rethinking the decision-making process and carefully considering whether face-to-face or virtual communication is more appropriate for each situation.(18)
-
#3 Review meeting, training and event locations
Review the location choices for meetings and training to minimise travel for as many staff as possible. If face-to-face meetings are necessary, choose a mid-way location for participants. Select venues based on the attendees’ origins and ensure they are accessible by public transport.
-
#4 Reduce the number of participants per trip
Enforce the coordination of staff travel plans by limiting the size of the group that travels to the same event or destination(19).
-
#5 Combine trips
Advance planning reduces the number of flights needed. By examining travel schedules and combining trips whenever possible, repeated travel to the same destination can be avoided. This can be achieved by bundling several trips into one and staying overnight if necessary to accommodate multiple meetings.(20)
-
#6 Extend assignment times
Extend the duration of assignments to minimise turnover and reduce the likelihood of requiring another assignment in the future. Additionally, consider allowing extended home leave to prevent excessive back-and-forth travel.
-
#7 Recruit locally
Review your recruitment approach and HR policy and hire local staff.
-
#8 Update travel related HR policies
Update the organisation’s travel/HR polices and adapt practices and incentives to facilitate the implementation of the above measures.
-
#9 Establish a carbon budget
Implementing a carbon budget helps organisations manage and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by allocating a fixed threshold of carbon emissions to different departments or units. This allows better monitoring and provides flexibility in how units “spend” their emissions. Although it requires time to set criteria and manage overspending, it offers a structured path towards limiting travel emissions.
To consider
-
Potential co-benefits
- Significant cost savings: Reduced expenditure on flights, accommodations, and related travel costs.
- Increased staff time and productivity: Less time spent in transit allows for more focus on work.
- Improved work-life balance: Reducing travel minimises disruptions to personal schedules.
- Reduced health risks: Lower stress and fatigue associated with frequent travel.
- Promotion of equality: Enhanced opportunities across countries and genders by reducing travel hierarchies.
-
Conditions for success
- Leadership commitment: Clear organisational buy-in to prioritise reducing travel.
- Defined targets: Overall and department-specific goals to monitor progress.
- Mission and travel validation: Management review of travel necessity to align with organisational goals.
- Involvement of HR: Integrating travel reduction strategies into human resource policies.
- Climate-aligned travel policy: Ensuring policies reflect the organisation’s sustainability objectives.
- Staff awareness: Education and training to encourage participation and acceptance of reduced travel practices.
-
Prerequisites and specific considerations
- IT tools and virtual infrastructure: Access to reliable software for remote collaboration (e.g., video conferencing).
- High-speed internet connection: Essential for seamless virtual communication and productivity.
-
Potential risks
- Reduced human interaction: Virtual meetings may limit the richness of in-person connections.
- Employee resistance: Some staff may view business travel as a valued perk or a symbol of status.
- Unequal impact: Potential disparities between staff and management regarding travel opportunities, though overall it supports international equity.
Tools and good practices
-
Climate Action Accelerator, Travel toolkit, 2024
The Climate Action Accelerator has developed a professional travel toolkit to help organisations implement their travel emissions reduction target.
Explore here -
World Resource Institute, Business travel toolkit, 2024
The toolkit guides the user on the analysis of business travel emissions, including factors, tools, and case studies for calculating emissions and setting science-based targets for organisations.
Explore here -
ICAO, Green meetings calculator, 2024
The tool is designed to support decision-making in reducing the carbon emissions from air travel to attend meetings. The software generates an optimal location for a meeting in terms of CO2 emissions, taking into consideration the city of origin and the number of participants, as well as other parameters.
Explore here -
Spanish health care company, The environmental impact of telemedicine on CO2 emissions reduction, 2022
A Spanish healthcare provider analysed their emissions reduction due to telemedicine and digital access to medical reports. Digital appointments and medical report downloads led to a total reduction of 6,655 tons of CO2. Each digital appointment saved an average of 3.057 kg of CO2, and each digital report download saved 1.5 kg of CO2.
Explore here -
Travel check, Interactive travel decision tree
The interactive decision tree provides personalised solutions based on travel reason. Through yes / no questions and “did you know” facts, it guides the user towards better alternatives to raise awareness on best practices, key figures and reduction opportunities.
Explore here -
University Amsterdam, Decision tree sustainable travel Europe
The interactive decision tree for sustainable travel decision-making, includes a list of “train versus plane” itineraries with differences in travel time, emissions, and transfers per different european destination.
Explore here
To go further
-
Stay grounded, Degrowth of aviation, 2019
The report focuses on strategies to counter the rapid growth of the aviation industry, which is contributing significantly to climate change. The document emphasises the need for radical reductions in aviation, particularly in the global north, to achieve ecological and social justice.
Explore here -
Climate assembly UK, The path to net zero, 2019
The report shares outcomes and insights from the climate assembly uk, a unique process that brought together a representative group of 108 uk citizens to discuss and prioritise actions the uk should take to achieve net zero emissions, with a specific focus on mobility and air travel.
Explore here -
Coalition for sustainable business travel, Knowledge guide, 2022
The guide shares tips meant to facilitate the redesign of organisations’ travel policies to decrease the environmental impact of international business travel. Provides best practices, key numbers, and testimonials.
Explore here
Acknowledgment
Last updated 20 August 2024.
Share your success stories, suggestions, and comments with us! contact@climateactionaccelerator.org
Featured
Professional travel
Travel policy
Lowest emission flights
Sources
(1) International Panel on Climate Change, ‘Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’, chapter 10.5.1, 2022. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(2) N. Dolsak, ‘Different approaches to reducing aviation emissions: reviewing the structure-agency debate in climate policy’, Nature Portfolio, 2022. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(3) M. Klower, ‘Quantifying aviation’s contribution to global warming’, Environmental research, 2021. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(4) Climate Action Accelerator, ‘Roadmap for halving emissions in the humanitarian sector by 2030 a path to climate-smart humanitarian action’, 2024. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(5) International Panel on Climate Change, ‘Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’, chapter 10.5.1, 2022. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(6) The Shift Project, ‘Flying in 2050. Aviation in a world under constraint’, 2021. Available here (accessed 20 August 2024).
(7) Airports Council International, Air travel demand updates, 2024. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(8) ‘Path to net 0’, Climate Assembly UK, 2021. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(9) S. Gossling, ‘Can we fly less? Evaluating the ‘necessity’ of air travel’, ora.ox, 2019. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(10) H. Ritchie, ‘What share of global CO₂ emissions come from aviation?’, Our world in data, 2024. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(11) Stay grounded, ‘Frequently Asked Questions about Aviation and Climate Justice’, 2023. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(12) Average emissions of a French person: 9.3 tonnes of CO2 eq. Ministry of energy and transition of France, ‘Carbon footprint and territorial emissions’, 2023. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(13) Stay grounded, ‘We have to talk about flying!’, 2024. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(14) Aviation Environment Federation, ‘Should we fly less ? The inequality of air travel’, 2023. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(15) Gossling, ‘The global scale, distribution and growth of aviation: Implications for climate change’, 2020. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(16) CNBC, ‘Boeing CEO: Over 80% of the world has never taken a flight’, 2017. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(17) S. Gossling, ‘Can we fly less? Evaluating the ‘necessity’ of air travel’, ora.ox, 2019. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(18) A. Muller, ‘The choice between business travel and video conferencing after COVID-19’, ScienceDirect, 2023. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(19) University of Bristol, ‘Reduce the need to travel’, 2023. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(20) Gallery Climate Coalition, ‘Travel’, GCC, 2024. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
Credits
Cover photo: Zachary Debottis/Pexels