T&E report: ‘Number of business flights down 34%’

Between 2019 and 2023, business flights fell by 34%. That’s according to a new report by the NGO Transport & Environment. However, 44% of the 326 companies in the Travel Smart ranking still have no target applying to business travel, putting overall progress at risk. Especially the disproportionate flying of private jets by large companies such as Merck, Bosch, and JPMorgan Chase is blamed.

As in previous years, the ranking highlights 25 global multinationals with the largest business flight footprint but no targets despite emitting a total of 6,9 Mt of CO2 annually with their flights—the equivalent of the climate footprint of 48,000 one-way flights from Paris to New York, or 1.3 times the annual aviation emissions of Belgium.

Question of goodwill

Essential players from the financial, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing sectors, such as JP Morgan Chase, Merck, and Bosch, disappoint: their business travel emissions have increased by 41%, 29%, and 3%, respectively, since 2019.

In contrast, industry peers such as AstraZeneca, Tetra Park, and Swiss Re show that things can be different; their emissions fell by 52%, 41%, and 67%, respectively, compared to 2019.

Setting targets helps

Overall, between 2019 and 2023, the CO2 emissions of 239 international companies fell by 34%. The study included only companies from Europe, the United States, and India.

Among Belgian companies, Solvay’s travel footprint reduced by 80%, followed by Barco (55%) and UCB (42%). Bekaert is among the notable polluters, with an increase of a whopping 101%.

According to T&E, companies that have set specific targets for air travel achieve, on average, more significant reductions in emissions from business travel.

Therefore, the NGO calls on those who are lagging to follow the example set by others, especially since keeping emissions low from business flights is one of the fastest and easiest solutions for companies to achieve sustainability goals.

The report also confirms the trend already identified by airlines themselves: business travel has effectively been reduced since the Covid-19 crisis, partly because video meetings have become commonplace.