Empowering Business Travelers to Take Action

More than 70 percent of travel managers surveyed in BTN’s 2023 Sustainability Survey were personally concerned about their company’s carbon footprints. Not all, however, are tasked to take action. Nearly twice as many travel managers whose companies are located in Europe are officially engaged in business travel sustainability initiatives compared to travel managers for companies that are headquartered in North America. The drive toward sustainable business practices, in general, has proven stronger in Europe overall, given a stronger regulatory environment around the issue that has gained steam in the last two years (see pages 8 and 9 for more details).

Yet there is some evidence in both Europe and the United States that individuals feel disempowered—and possibly uninspired—to make a difference when it comes to traveling more sustainably. This can even be the case when Environment, Sustainability and Governance (ESG) is demonstrated as part of the corporate culture at a larger scale. The feeling may be, “I’m glad to work for a company that does X”—fill in the blank: makes large sustainable fuel purchases, invests in carbon sequestration and removal projects, etc.— “but what can I do as an individual?”

The big takeaway from the case studies in this issue—all of which qualified as finalists in BTN Group’s inaugural Sustainability Awards—is that business travel is a very visible and actionable function across large groups of employees. Among companies profiled, employees have responded positively to sustainability when they are educated with relatable data and empowered to make smart choices. And while many programs featured in this issue show big moves on the corporate level, they also concentrate on what business travel can deliver every day through empowering employees to travel smarter and make sustainable decisions for themselves and the planet.

I trust you will find valuable strategies and advice in this special issue, along with the trends and data that can help you formulate a business case to build a sustainable business travel program.