Much of the global business travel industry has already made sustainable business travel a priority with a focus on reducing emissions and their environmental footprint. But the industry, as well as external stakeholders, such as policymakers, recognize more needs to be done.

These are some of the insights from a recent landmark study — “The State of Sustainability in the Global Business Travel Sector” — from the Global Business Travel Association, the world’s largest business travel association, and Grayling, a leading global public affairs and communications consultancy.

“There’s no longer the debate whether we should engage in sustainable actions for business travel, but how we turn ambition into action. Investing in sustainable solutions must be part of our game plan today to make sure we can still connect people and travel for business tomorrow,” said Delphine Millot, senior vice president, sustainability, GBTA.

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The report reveals barriers as well as opportunities to achieving more sustainable business travel and also provides in-depth data from both global business travel buyers and travel suppliers as well as external policy makers, think tanks and NGOs.

Key takeaways from the study include:

• 89 percent say sustainability is already a priority in their company
• Only 14 percent say the industry is currently well advanced on sustainability
• But improvements are being made —76 percent of travel buyers have already or are planning to incorporate sustainability objectives in their travel policies
• 80 percent of the industry reports having a sustainability team and/or program
• 88 percent of the global business travel sector views addressing climate change as the No. 1 priority area for action
• Industry respondents say the most impactful actions are prioritizing energy-efficient accommodations (81 percent), suppliers with sustainability certification (78 percent), and flights with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) (73 percent)
• External stakeholders view higher costs (58 percent) as the top barrier and almost two-thirds (62 percent) rank lack of interest from some industry stakeholders

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GBTA’s “The State of Sustainability in the Global Business Travel Sector” full research report can be downloaded here. The report and the GBTA Sustainability Program are supported by the association’s Founding Partners in Sustainability— visit gbta.org/sustainability to find out more.

On Nov. 8, 2022, GBTA will also host its first ever Global Sustainability Summit in Brussels and bringing together experts, industry and policy leaders to outline concrete solutions to decarbonize business travel. Visit here for more details.