A new analysis by T&E of the business travel emissions of 25 major French companies in 2024 reveals that, on average, they have reduced their emissions by almost a fifth (-18%) in 2024 as compared to 2019.
Overall, the positive trend of reducing business travel emissions is confirmed. However, this trend conceals major disparities between companies: some are reducing their emissions by a great deal, while others are on a more concerning trajectory.
The 25 French companies in the 2025 Travel Smart Ranking were analysed using 2024 data from the Universal Registration Document. Thanks to the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), many companies now disclose their business travel emissions in their annual reports, allowing them to be assessed.
Of the 25 companies analysed, 9 have set specific targets for reducing their business travel emissions. 16 have either no target at all, or only a broader reduction target that includes many of the company’s activities. T&E’s global analysis for the 2025 Travel Smart Ranking shows that companies with specific business travel targets are more effective in reducing their emissions. This is confirmed for French companies: the 9 with a specific target collectively reduced their emissions by 41% between 2019 and 2024, while the others reduced their emissions by just 9% on average.
Two thirds of the companies analysed maintained their travel emissions levels lower than in 2019. Six, or a quarter, have maintained reductions of 50% or more. Consulting firm Capgemini, which has a specific target for reducing business travel emissions, reduced these by 7% between 2023 and 2024, for a 51% reduction since 2019, while having increased its number of employees. Sopria Steria, Amundi, L’Oréal and Forvia have also made greater efforts, each implementing new measures: limiting air travel in favor of train alternatives, using digital tools for meetings, or requiring prior authorisation from a member of senior management for trips abroad.
In contrast, pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, which has not set a specific target, has seen its travel emissions increase by 10% in 2024 compared to 2019. Other companies which have increased their emissions over the same period are LVMH (+23%) and Vinci (+25%).
The contrast between leaders and laggards within sectors is particularly striking. In the finance sector, Crédit Agricole and Société Générale cut their emissions by 33% and 59% respectively; unlike BNP Paribas, which is approaching 2019 levels with a reduction of just 7%.
In the luxury sector, Kering reduced its emissions by 44%, while LVMH increased them by 23%. In the automotive sector, Renault and Forvia reduced their emissions by 28% and 25% respectively, while Valeo increased them by 49%.
The French government has taken encouraging measures regarding business travel. As part of its Plan de Sobriété Énergétique (Energy Savings Plan), it has asked companies as well as its own employees (Acte 2) to give preference to rail over air for journeys that can be made in less than four hours.
The government recognises the enormous climate impact of transport. For this reason, the subsequent circular on the State’s commitment to ecological transformation includes a target to reduce by 20% the number of outbound journeys by air in 2024 compared to 2019, with an increased ambition of -30% in 2027.
T&E and students, in an op-ed published in Le Monde, call on French companies to do the same, setting targets to reduce business travel emissions by 50% compared to 2019 levels, between 2025 and 2030. This target has been set on the basis of T&E’s roadmap, which shows that a 50% reduction in corporate travel emissions is necessary by 2030, in order to keep aviation on a trajectory compatible with a 1.5°C planet.
In 2024, the European aviation sector almost fully bounced back to pre-COVID levels, reaching 96% of 2019 flight numbers and 98% of CO2 emissions, according to T&E’s analysis. Without the reductions in business flying, this increase would be bigger.