Despite claims of environmental consciousness, some of the world's largest companies have been slow to set targets for reducing corporate air travel emissions, according to 11 indicators of air travel emissions. According to the latest TravelSmart analysis, which ranks 328 companies in Europe and India, reduction targets and reports.
The third edition of the Travel Smart Rankings found that 25 multinational companies responsible for 36% of business travel emissions “despite repeatedly touting their green credentials to the public and shareholders. It has been revealed that the airline has not yet developed a plan to reduce the carbon footprint of its corporate flights. As Travel Smart writes. IBM, Microsoft, Volkswagen, Siemens, Boeing, and Google are among the top flyers that are not targeted.
Of the 328 companies evaluated in the ranking, only 57 are working to reduce business travel emissions, 15 of which are from the United States. Many companies have announced their intention to comply with the Paris Agreement, but only seven more have set targets since last year.
Financial sector giants JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs are currently falling in the rankings after failing to set or act on targets for the third year in a row. Walt Disney and Netflix found themselves at the bottom of the list in their respective sectors, along with GE in manufacturing and retail giants Amazon and Walmart.
Of the 68 US companies participating in the ranking, only two achieved the prestigious A category (Pfizer and Oracle) and only 13 achieved a B grade. These exemplary companies are demonstrating that transformative change and ambitious goals are possible by embracing alternative modes of transportation and enhancing virtual collaboration.
Conversely, the majority of U.S. companies lag behind, with 48 companies receiving a C rating and six companies receiving a D rating.
Denise Auclair, corporate travel manager at Transport & Environment, emphasized that U.S. travelers are disproportionately responsible for reducing aircraft emissions.
“U.S. aviators have a grave responsibility to fly fewer flights. If we don't set a goal soon, we risk losing out to our competitors. There is no excuse for not taking action. Companies in the sector are ambitious We're setting goals, but what's stopping laggards like IBM and Johnson & Johnson from achieving the same goals? It reveals the difference between companies that are doing well and those that pay lip service to their climate responsibilities.”
The analysis highlights stark disparities within the industry, with some companies making ambitious efforts to reduce aviation emissions, while others are stagnant. For example, Oracle, Adobe, and Salesforce have taken a more aggressive approach and set goals to reduce emissions from air travel. Salesforce aims to cut its business travel emissions intensity in half by 2030, and will also tie a portion of executive bonuses toward achieving interim goals toward this goal.
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The impact of inaction looms large, as companies risk returning to pre-pandemic flight levels, TravelSmart notes. Employee travel at non-targeted companies, such as Johnson & Johnson and Merck, has nearly recovered to 2019 levels, the data shows. Johnson & Johnson's business travel emissions in 2019 were “equivalent to the carbon footprint of nearly three daily flights from London to New York for one year.”
In stark contrast, Pfizer, which has set ambitious targets, had emissions 78% lower in 2022 than in 2019.
Even companies that consider themselves progressive on sustainability, such as Apple and Cisco, have been criticized for lacking credible plans to address travel emissions. Although these companies have ambitious goals such as achieving net-zero carbon emissions, TravelSmart's analysis says they are “not committed to reducing air travel emissions.”
The failure of many companies to set targets not only goes against their environmental commitments, but also raises concerns about companies' true commitment to reducing air travel emissions. Despite many companies pledging to align with the Paris Agreement, the slow adoption of the goals shows a lack of urgency and serious commitment to sustainability.
“The Travel Smart Ranking is more than just a ranking, it’s a call to action,” said Adam Brown, CEO and co-founder of Clarasight. “We urge all businesses to set business travel emissions reduction targets that will accelerate near-term progress towards net-zero targets. will help ensure that they adopt solutions and policies that enhance sustainable and purposeful travel.”
Editor's note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own and not those of Impakter.com. — Featured photo credits: Artem Zhukov.
