Policymakers should seize the momentum to set mandates to halve business travel emissions and advance measures to enable purposeful travel.
The best way to control aviation emissions in this decade is to halt the growth in demand, and for this, reducing business travel emissions is key. Mandates to halve business travel emissions and measures for an enabling framework will accelerate the transformational changes underway towards the mobility of the future: purposeful business travel.
Leading policy examples show the way:
- The Netherlands – Businesses above 100 employees have to report to the government their travel emissions and progress towards the mandated 50% decrease in domestic mobility emissions by 2030, from 2016 levels – Learn more
- France – The government’s energy sobriety plan asks businesses to reduce energy use for travel by taking the train for trips of 4 hours or less, instead of the plane – Learn more
- The United Kingdom and France already require large businesses to report annually on their greenhouse gas emissions, and the UK greenhouse gas reporting conversion factors account for the full climate impacts of business flying by including a radiative forcing index factor to account for non-CO2 effects from contrails as well as CO2 emissions.
- The European Commission is leading the way with a commitment to reduce emissions from staff business trips by 50% by 2024, compared to 2019 (and similarly for travel by external experts) – Learn more
- In the United States, California has adopted a groundbreaking Corporate Climate Data Accountability Act making business travel emissions a required element of reporting for over 5,000 large companies operating in the state – Learn more
See other policy developments here
To read the French version here