Corporate travel is under pressure to evolve. As organizations sharpen their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments, business travel has become one of the most visible and complex categories within Scope 3 emissions—indirect emissions generated across a company’s value chain, including employee travel.
Despite years of focus, progress is uneven. Business Travel News reports that while companies remain committed to sustainability goals, execution continues to fall short.
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) reinforces this tension: sustainability is now a priority for 89% of the industry, yet translating that urgency into practical action remains difficult.
For many organizations, carbon offsets have been the default response, but that approach is beginning to shift. Offsets may still play a role, but they are no longer seen as sufficient on their own.
“Offsets can play a role, but they shouldn’t be the foundation of a sustainability strategy,” said Carol Del Giudice, a Christopherson account executive. “The real impact comes from helping clients reduce emissions through better decisions before a trip is ever booked.”
The focus is moving from compensation to reduction—and toward building a sustainable corporate travel program that delivers measurable outcomes.
The central challenge in business travel sustainability is not awareness, but execution.
In “Converting Targets to Action,” Business Travel News highlights a growing adoption of tools such as carbon budgets and emissions tracking. Yet implementation remains inconsistent, and impact varies widely.
This gap has led to what many in the industry describe as “checkbox sustainability,” initiatives that signal progress without fundamentally changing outcomes.
The GBTA report illustrates this divide. While 76% of travel buyers have incorporated or plan to incorporate sustainability into travel policies, only 38% have fully implemented those practices.
External stakeholders remain skeptical.
“The investments and policy shifts required to radically decarbonize the travel industry are not materializing fast enough,” one NGO respondent stated.
Carbon offsets sit at the center of this issue. Only a quarter of buyers consider them highly impactful, reflecting a broader reassessment of their role.
“We see a lot of organizations with strong ESG goals, but the challenge is translating those into day-to-day travel decisions,” said Del Giudice. “That’s where policy, data, and traveler visibility all have to work together.”
If offsets are no longer sufficient, what replaces them is not a single solution but a coordinated system. A credible business travel carbon reduction strategy requires alignment across supplier selection, policy design, data, and traveler behavior.
Supplier strategy: Driving change through demand
Supplier selection remains one of the most effective levers available to organizations. GBTA data shows strong alignment on priorities:
Business Travel News’ “Collaborating for Carbon Savings” emphasizes that progress depends on coordination across the value chain. Corporate buyers alone cannot shift the market. Change requires sustained demand and supplier investment.
This shift is also changing how travel programs evaluate suppliers. Rather than focusing solely on cost and convenience, companies are beginning to weigh sustainability performance alongside traditional metrics, often requiring more granular data than suppliers have historically provided.
Hotel sourcing offers a practical example. Programs that evaluate properties against verified sustainability criteria—such as energy certifications and emissions transparency—allow organizations to align travel spend with broader ESG goals.
Constraints remain, particularly in aviation.
Policy levers: Turning intent into action
If supplier strategy establishes direction, policy determines execution.
In “Converting Targets to Action,” Business Travel News reports that organizations are increasingly adopting tools such as carbon budgets and approval thresholds to embed sustainability into everyday decisions.
The GBTA report supports this shift, with external stakeholders ranking the integration of sustainability into travel policies as the most credible action companies can take.
Guidance from BCD Travel’s sustainable travel policy guide reinforces that effective policies must be clear, measurable, and aligned with broader ESG goals.
In practice, many organizations rely on external partners to translate sustainability goals into workable policies—balancing compliance requirements with the realities of traveler behavior, operational constraints, and cost pressures.
This often includes:
Policy alone, however, does not guarantee adoption. It must align with operational realities and traveler expectations.
Data and reporting: From insight to accountability
Data has become central to corporate travel sustainability, but its value depends on how it is used.
According to GBTA, 55% of companies measure travel emissions and 56% report on them. Many organizations are still in the early stages of using that data to drive decision-making.
Business Travel News’ “The Difficult Decarbonization Journey” highlights this progression. Companies often begin with measurement before moving toward reduction strategies.
Barriers remain significant. GBTA identifies higher costs (82%) and lack of data transparency (63%) as key obstacles.
As one supplier in the study noted, “If you don’t know what your emissions are, how can you put in a plan to reduce them?”
For many organizations, the challenge is bringing emissions visibility into the same systems where travel decisions are made. Some travel management providers have begun embedding sustainability reporting directly into program dashboards, allowing companies to compare routes, suppliers, and booking behaviors in real time rather than through separate reporting tools.
“Having emissions data is one thing. Using it to influence behavior is another,” said Del Giudice. “The companies making progress are the ones tying that data directly to policy and accountability.”
Traveler engagement: Where strategy meets reality
Even well-designed programs depend on traveler participation.
The GBTA report identifies awareness as a key priority, with 77% of respondents emphasizing the need to educate employees and stakeholders.
Business travel emissions are ultimately the result of individual decisions.
“You can’t build a sustainable travel program without traveler buy-in,” Del Giudice said. “If travelers don’t understand the impact of their choices or feel connected to the company’s sustainability goals, even the best policy becomes background noise.”
Programs that succeed make sustainability visible at the point of booking and align it with company culture.
As sustainability becomes more complex, the role of travel management companies is expanding.
In “Collaborating for Carbon Savings,”Business Travel News underscores the importance of coordination across the travel ecosystem. TMCs are increasingly central to efforts around data, reporting, and supplier alignment.
The GBTA report reinforces this need for collaboration.
“Partnerships are required to support one another by sharing best practices and ensuring the full value chain commits to improving its environmental performance,” it stated.
As sustainability expectations increase, travel management companies are expanding their role beyond logistics into data interpretation, supplier strategy, and policy alignment. Organizations are increasingly looking for partners who can connect emissions data with actionable decisions rather than simply reporting on travel activity after the fact.
“Our role has expanded beyond managing travel to also helping clients manage its impact,” said Del Giudice. “That means connecting ESG goals with how people actually book and travel.”
In this context, TMCs function as a bridge between corporate strategy and operational execution.
Progress in corporate travel sustainability is measurable, but uneven.
What’s working:
What’s not:
Business Travel News’ The Difficult Decarbonization Journey highlights the structural nature of the challenge. Decarbonizing travel—particularly aviation—will require sustained investment, innovation, and behavioral change.
External stakeholders continue to view the sector as only moderately advanced in sustainability.
Corporate travel sustainability is entering a more demanding phase.
Offsets are no longer the focal point. Meaningful progress depends on reducing emissions through coordinated action across suppliers, policy, data, and traveler behavior.
A credible sustainable corporate travel program requires:
“Sustainability in travel is an ongoing shift in how companies think about necessity, value, and impact,” said Del Giudice.
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