According to statistics released on Monday, nearly half of 217 international companies reduced their carbon emissions from business travel by at least 50% between 2019 and 2022. This is because business travel has recovered from the pandemic far more slowly than leisure travel.

Business travel has been sluggish to recover to 2019 levels despite a worldwide upturn, with many corporate clients choosing to choose rail or video conferences over flights.

While environmentalists contend that this trend is a significant step towards reducing overall emissions, international business travel companies warn that it may negatively impact corporate ties.

According to advocacy group Transport and Environment, in order to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius this decade, business travel must be cut by 50% from pre-COVID levels.

According to the Travel Smart Emissions Tracker research, major corporations like computer giant SAP, accounting firm PwC, and Lloyd’s Banking Group all cut their corporate air travel emissions by more than 75% from 2019 levels.

“The way forward is collaboration with more online meetings, more travel by train and less by plane,” Denise Auclair, Travel Smart campaign manager, said in a statement.

Nonetheless, the analysis discovered that 21 of the businesses flew more than they did in 2019. L3Harris, Boston Scientific, and Marriott International alone saw increases in carbon emissions of more than 69%.

Requests for comment from L3Harris, Boston Scientific, and Marriott International were not answered.

Airlines claim that the fall in corporate travel could hurt their bottom line and economic expansion, but strong post-pandemic consumer demand for travel has allayed concerns.

According to a September survey conducted in collaboration with the Harvard commercial Review and American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT), 84% of companies still think in-person travel has “tangible business value”.

Prior to the epidemic, business travel accounted for up to half of passenger revenue for US airlines, according to industry association Airlines for America. This made it easier for airlines to load weekday flights and offer high-margin premium seats.

Airlines in Europe, such as Air France, have changed their approaches, while others are attempting to offset the decline in revenue by offering more luxurious flights to vacationers.

(Adapted from TransportEnvironment.org)

Categories: Economy & Finance, Regulations & Legal, Strategy, Sustainability