Sustainable corporate travel: how to cut emissions

Clients, investors and employees increasingly ask what a company is doing to reduce the environmental impact of its activities. Business travel is part of that answer: flights, hotels and ground transportation generate emissions that show up in the carbon inventory and in ESG reports. Building sustainable corporate travel does not mean you stop traveling. It means traveling with better judgment.

At ArrowTur, which has been organizing corporate travel since 1989, we see that the changes that cut emissions the most are usually the same ones that cut costs and traveler fatigue: fewer unnecessary legs, more direct flights and better-planned schedules. In this guide, we show where to start and how to turn good intentions into everyday practice.

Why business travel weighs on your emissions inventory

Under the GHG Protocol, the most widely used methodology for greenhouse gas inventories, business trips taken on third-party transportation fall under Scope 3, in the business travel category. In service companies, which have no factories or vehicle fleets of their own, this category is often one of the most significant in the inventory.

Air travel is usually the main source of a trip’s emissions. Hotels, rental cars, taxis and ride-hailing apps also count, but on a smaller scale. That is why decisions about when and how to fly make the biggest difference.

Start with one question: does this trip need to happen?

A trip that does not happen is the only one with zero emissions. Before any other measure, it helps to have clear criteria to separate what needs to be done in person from what can be handled remotely:

• In person makes a difference: closing deals, a first visit to a client, implementation projects, audits, technical maintenance, team integration.
• Can be done online: follow-up meetings, short internal alignments, presentations that do not require contact with the product or the site.
• Group your appointments: instead of three short trips to the same city in a month, plan one trip with a concentrated schedule.

This filter should not become red tape. A simple question in the travel request, such as “what is the goal and why does it need to be in person,” already helps the manager decide.

Flight choices that reduce emissions

When the trip is necessary, a few choices have a big impact on the result:

• Direct flights: takeoff and landing are the phases that burn the most fuel. Whenever the price difference is reasonable, a direct flight tends to emit less than a route with a connection.
• Economy class: calculation methodologies assign more emissions to seats that take up more space on the aircraft. Keeping business class for long-haul flights and cases set out in the policy reduces cost and emissions at the same time.
• Baggage: less weight on board means less fuel. Encouraging travelers to pack only what they need also avoids checked baggage fees.
• Fewer back-and-forth legs: when the schedule allows, a trip that covers two cities in sequence avoids flying back to base in between.

Bus, car and local transportation

On short routes, flying is not always the best option. For trips of a few hours, an executive bus can be competitive in total door-to-door time, once you count getting to the airport, boarding and waiting for baggage, and it usually emits less per passenger.

At the destination, encourage colleagues visiting the same client to share a car, choose vehicle categories that match the actual need and, when available, pick hybrid or electric cars from rental companies. Hotels close to the workplace cut daily taxi and ride-hailing trips, which also saves the traveler time.

Lower-impact hotels and events

When choosing a hotel, location is the first sustainable criterion: the closer to the appointment, the fewer the trips across town. You can also give preference to hotels with proven environmental practices, such as energy, water and waste management, that report them transparently.

For events and group meetings, the choice of destination makes a big difference. A meeting held in a city that is easy to reach for most participants avoids connections and long legs. The same goes for printed materials, giveaways and catering: less waste and local suppliers reduce the event’s overall impact.

Put sustainability in your travel policy

Good intentions only become practice when they are written down and monitored. Some points that can go into the travel policy:

• criteria to decide between an in-person trip and an online meeting;
• preference for direct flights, with an acceptable price margin set by the company;
• a cabin class rule based on flight duration;
• bus travel on short routes, when it makes sense;
• preference for hotels close to the appointment;
• an emissions reduction target with regular follow-up.

To follow up, you need to measure. A report showing emissions by traveler, department and route helps you find the biggest opportunities and compare results month by month, just as you track spending.

Sustainable corporate travel with ArrowTur

ArrowTur helps companies put sustainability into practice in their travel program. We suggest direct flights and ground alternatives when they make sense, recommend hotels close to appointments, apply the travel policy rules to every booking and give our clients carbon emission reports for their trips, along with the tree replanting report we produce for each client. Our own office runs paperless. With this data in hand, the company can track results and has the information it needs for its ESG report.

Our team works Monday to Friday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Brasília time), with emergency support outside those hours. Learn about our corporate travel management, talk to our sales team on WhatsApp, by phone at +55 11 5189-4120 or through our Contact us page.

Read also: Corporate travel KPIs: what to measure and how to track them.

Frequently asked questions

Is sustainable corporate travel more expensive?

In most cases, no. Traveling less, grouping appointments and avoiding unnecessary legs reduce cost and emissions at the same time. Sometimes a direct flight costs a little more, and the policy sets the acceptable difference.

How can we find out how much our business travel emits?

With an emissions report calculated from the trips actually taken, based on legs, distances and cabin class. Your travel agency can provide this report from the bookings.

Does offsetting emissions solve the problem?

Offsetting can be a complement, but the first step is to reduce. Well-planned trips, direct flights and fewer legs are the basis of any serious strategy.