More than 80 per cent of global companies are failing to set ambitious targets to reduce corporate travel emissions, according to an annual report by campaign group Transport & Environment.
The third Travel Smart report ranks organisations across Europe, North America and India on their emissions output, reduction targets and reporting around air travel.
Industry leaders
The companies best targeting air travel emissions according to Transport & Environment’s Travel Smart study (grade and score in brackets)
1. Swiss Re (A/13.5)
2. Zurich Insurance (A/13.5)
3. Lloyds Banking (A/13)
4. Arcadis (A/12.5)
5. Fidelity International (A/12.5)
6. ABN Amro (A/12)
7. Abrdn (A/12)
8. Novo Nordisk (A/12)
9. Ericsson (A/11.5)
10. AstraZeneca (A/11)
11. Crédit Agricole (A/11)
12. HSBC (A/11)
13. Mapfre (A/11)
14. Oracle (A/11)
15. Pfizer (A/11)
16. PwC (A/11)
17. Adobe (B/10.5)
18. Antea (B/10.5)
19. Atlassian (B/10.5)
20. M&G plc (B/10.5)
This year’s report, which is compiled by Transport & Environment and a coalition of global partners, ranked 328 companies, up slightly from 322 in 2023, and found that that 83 per cent “are not taking the weight of their climate impact seriously”.
While 57 companies have committed to reducing business travel emissions, only 45 have set a business travel target and just 12 have committed to specifically reducing air travel emissions, according to the report.
The study noted that reporting around business travel emissions has become “a more widespread practice”, but “the necessary extra step” of setting emissions reduction targets “is still lacking”.
In fact, 25 companies ranked among the worst offenders for air travel emission are yet to set specific reduction targets, the report found, with Volkswagen, Accenture, Johnson & Johnson and KPMG among the biggest emitters that T&E says have “no credible plans to reduce corporate flying emissions”.
“Top flyers have an outsized responsibility to cut down their flying,” said Denise Auclair, corporate travel manager at Transport & Environment. “There are no excuses for not taking action.”
Only five companies achieved Travel Smart’s ‘gold standard’ ranking which requires them to report on air travel emissions and commit to at least a 50 per cent reduction by 2025 (against a 2019 baseline).
This year, Zurich Insurance Group joined the top four performers from the previous two years: Swiss Re, Fidelity International, ABN Amro and Denmark-based pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk.
The research also found that 44 companies report the full climate impact of their travel, including non-Co2 emissions, up from 40 last year, and 28 have established policies to shift travellers from air to rail travel. Frontrunners in this regard include Antea Group, Publicis Groupe, Mapfre, Simon Kucher, Swiss Re, ABN Amro and Steelcase.
All companies featured in the report are awarded an A, B, C or D grade, with 16 organisations achieving the top A grade this year (with a score of 10.5 points or above), compared with 11 firms in 2023. These include Pfizer, AstraZeneca and software company Oracle.
Forty companies scored a B rating (6.5 to 10 points), while the overwhelming majority (230) received a C grade (3 to 6 points) and 42 companies were given a D ranking (2.5 points or less).
The report highlighted the financial, consulting and pharmaceutical sectors as top performers, with several companies ranked A and B. The most represented sector, manufacturing, saw almost only C and D scores, similar to the retail and construction sectors, with the tech sector including a few B scores and now one A (Oracle).
T&E warned corporates not to neglect business air travel emissions, stating “companies that hide behind their other emissions to avoid addressing travel-related emissions do a disservice to the credibility of their sustainability plans”. The organisation also urged governments to “step up” regulatory requirements that ensure businesses keep their travel emissions down.
The report highlights the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) as a positive step forward, as well as, in the US, California’s Corporate Climate Data Accountability Act, which makes business travel emissions a required element of corporate reporting.