How we in the business travel industry can be principal players in the journey towards net zero

Nora Lovell Marchant, vice president global sustainability, American Express Global Business Travel

The agreements that world leaders forge at COP26 are meant to chart a clearer course to achieving climate targets, but it will ultimately fall to business to fulfil many of these solutions. It’s the private sector that drives the investment, innovation and technology development that’s necessary to shift the planet to net zero.

However, many organisations are unsure how to reduce their own emissions and have yet to formulate action plans. More than half of the FTSE 100 don’t have net-zero targets set, and less than a quarter have scientifically approved plans to reach net zero.

Aviation comprises nearly 3 per cent of global carbon emissions and business travel is a significant contributor. But travel isn’t the problem – carbon is the problem. In fact, business travel can power progress on sustainability. The sector is strategically positioned to help organisations move the needle on net-zero. Business travel is a highly concentrated industry; we have the influence – and ambition – to accelerate meaningful change.

One of the recommendations to business from the independent report to the UK Climate Change Commission is to ‘do the basics well – measure, disclose, target, act, adjust’. The business travel sector can help drive this, designing and implementing policies and programmes to support sustainability targets. Travel managers and their partners can now pull several levers, including:

• Track and report, analysing emissions data for actionable insights.
• Influence choice, shifting travel decisions at point of sale in booking tools.
• Procure sustainable products and services. One small example; this year we worked with Cvent to create for the industry a template of corporate responsibility and sustainability questions for the hotel RFP season.
• Promote offsets – that is, independently verified, high-quality carbon credits.
• Drive towards net-zero aviation, which is economically and technically challenging – yet achievable with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

SAF can offer an 80 per cent reduction in lifecycle carbon emissions compared to fossil-based jet fuel. While it’s currently only available in tiny quantities – 0.1 per cent of jet fuel available today – SAF is the most viable option in the near and medium term to achieve net-zero aviation. Other technologies are important and promising – but decades away from creating real impact. Ramping up SAF production and deployment to meet growing demand is a massive feat but we can achieve this, together.

Working in collaboration with Shell Aviation, GBT is helping scale up SAF supply and demand by aggregating corporate demand and unlocking investment and production. This is just one example of the type of innovative partnerships that can be formed when we reach across value chains to bring all corners of our industry together.

There are few industries in the world more international than business travel. Together we have the ability to coordinate across supply chains, sectors and borders to empower solutions and catalyse change. We need to lean into this.

Another way we can work together is to unite in advocating for government support and action. If we work to combine inventive practices with policy, we can amplify the business travel industry’s positive impact.

There are some immediate asks around which we can speak as a single, powerful voice to government. These include:

• International advocacy. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), an agency of the United Nations, will convene in less than a year to decide the fate of the global aviation sector on sustainability. Let’s collectively call on ICAO to raise its ambition and follow the precedent set by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and its 300 member airlines approving a resolution for the global air transport industry to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
• Domestic lobbying. National governments have announced proposals for decarbonising aviation including the United Kingdom SAF mandate consultation, the ReFuelEU Aviation Initiative, and the United States SAF Grand Challenge. Let’s lobby our representatives to expeditiously pass concrete legislation that will create the regulatory certainty necessary to facilitate private sector investment.
• In-sector solutions. SAF viability depends upon governments incentivising production and usage with appropriate financial stimulus. Let’s voice that government mandates are important – but insufficient to increase production at the scale required to meet net zero by 2050 without fiscal support. Regulatory financing mechanisms include fiscal policy, tax credits and incentives, public-private partnerships and grants.
• Out-of-sector solutions. Credible carbon credits provide a climate finance mechanism to mobilise public and private investment into nature-based solutions. Governments of 100 nations at COP26 pledged to end and reverse deforestation by 2030, covering 85 per cent of the world’s forests. Carbon offsets are the only immediately available option for mitigating 100 per cent of business travel emissions. Let’s mobilise governments to invest in high-integrity carbon offsets and recognise that the airline industry is an ally in combating deforestation.

The challenges brought on by the pandemic have shown how our industry can be resilient, resourceful and collaborative – when we galvanise around a cause, we can spur government support and action. There is no greater threat to our industry and our planet than climate change. But there are steps we can take together – travel managers, TMCs, partners, suppliers and beyond – to drive progress towards net zero at scale and speed.