How government can achieve carbon neutral business travel

Measuring and reducing carbon emissions is becoming a priority for government sectors, due in large part to policies and frameworks targeting emissions. However, initiating sustainability efforts within government organisations can often be overwhelming. Determining where to start, which areas to prioritise and how to approach sustainability isn’t straightforward. One key aspect to consider is the selection of impactful, measurable and highly visible initiatives that can inspire progress and drive government organisations towards greater sustainability.

The Australian Public Service (APS) Net Zero 2030 policy includes business travel as part of its scope and is implementing a continuous improvement cycle in public reporting. Additionally, the Australian Government Department of Finance is responsible for a number of government policies and frameworks that can be leveraged to reduce emissions — including travel — and is reviewing and updating these arrangements and developing guidance for entities to support net-zero outcomes.

Internationally, governments are increasingly targeting travel as a key focus to reduce emissions, with the 2022–2025 sustainability strategy developed by the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment specifically highlighting business travel and the need to cut travel emissions by implementing measures designed to support reductions.

Combined with the APS Net Zero 2023 policy’s goal to transparently report on emissions from the latter half of 2023, it is likely that the Australian Government will target business travel reductions, making it important for governmental organisations to be on the front foot and implement visible, tangible changes.

Travel by road or air is the predominant mode of business travel across Australia and New Zealand. Global aviation emissions have quadrupled since the mid-1960s, while domestic transport made up 18.1% of Australia’s total CO₂ emissions in September 2021. For government organisations with employees frequently travelling, whether domestically or internationally, travel-related emissions contribute substantially to their carbon footprint. And scrutiny into how companies and government departments plan to reduce their travel-based carbon footprint has not gone unnoticed. A recent SAP Concur survey found that 47% of travel managers say they expect enhanced duty of care policies to be enacted. 69% of travel managers also said there was now a much greater focus on sustainability within their organisations, which needed to be considered when arranging travel.

Fortunately, there is an opportunity to both reduce carbon footprint and save on costs, all while ensuring measurable progress. This is where artificially intelligent (AI) travel management solutions are coming to the fore in balancing safety and sustainability needs in business travel. While digital tools such as teleconferences and emails are useful for operations where travel is not essential, face-to-face interactions cannot be abandoned completely. Government departments can achieve safer and more carbon neutral travel by re-prioritising travel-related policies.

There are three steps government organisations can take to achieve safe, carbon neutral travel:

1. Set a department-wide goal for safe, sustainable travel

Achieving safer, carbon-neutral travel can only be done by setting clear goals and aligning company policies and processes to those goals. Government leaders increasingly have a responsibility to employees, and to the planet, and should be committed to protecting both for the long term. SAP Concur’s APAC Sustainability Business Travel survey recently revealed that Australian organisations across various sectors face hurdles in implementing a sustainable travel system. These include: a lack of training or personnel knowledge on sustainability issues (33%); a lack of professional tools to visualise environmental impact of travel (32%); and a lack of employee engagement (32%).

Governmental organisations will face the same hurdles and should form specific and measurable targets and identify how workplace tools can be refined to support desired outcomes. This also needs to be filtered down to employees, ensuring there is comprehensive communication about both travel policies and sustainability goals across the organisation. This will help management to not only set goals for safe, sustainable travel, but also be best positioned to achieve the objectives by communicating effectively with all staff.

2. Conduct an internal audit

When reviewing travel policies, it’s essential to conduct an audit to uncover where there may be gaps and opportunities regarding safer business travel while also reducing the governmental organisation’s carbon footprint.

Leaders need to consider the organisation’s current situation to develop a solid baseline. For example, a government department’s carbon footprint can be measured by analysing factors such as:

• the number of travelling staff
• distance travelled
• transportation types used
• number of existing and projected travel commitments (including distance)
• travel behaviour such as routes and flight connections.
   

Auditing is simpler with the right software that provides detailed insights into, and analysis of, forthcoming travel locations, accommodation, transport and expenses. This lets managers plan effectively for safer and more sustainable travel into the future.

Next-generation travel management software leverages AI and machine learning algorithms to help detect anomalies in a user’s booking patterns and potential policy violations or fraud. This software can also capture data from bookings not completed via an online booking tool, which enables maintenance of control and compliance to be extended and efficiently managed on all types of bookings.

3. Use digital tools to set travel parameters

Recent data from SAP Concur’s APAC Sustainability Business Travel survey shows that 63% of Australian companies realise they need to harness technology to become sustainable effectively, with 30% currently having software in place to support corporate travel and expense management, and 33% planning to acquire such software “very soon”. The survey also revealed that 46% of Australian organisations said they have good or excellent business travel data for their software to analyse.

Automation can go a long way to ensuring safe and more sustainable travel. For example, by conducting an audit of the company’s current situation and comparing that with its identified goals, leaders can set parameters within automated tools.

Software lets organisations establish frameworks that can automatically prioritise safer and more sustainable travel choices. This takes the guesswork out of selecting the best approach for carbon neutral travel and provides safer travel options for employees. Almost three-quarters of Australian companies (72%) identified increasing operational efficiency as a priority for sustainable travel, which can be achieved with the support of technologies.

Adopting a strategic approach to business travel emissions lets government organisations demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and sets the stage for future initiatives that drive positive change across the entire company. In fact, these steps can lead not only to safer, carbon neutral travel but also provide additional organisational benefits. Hours spent both travelling and preparing for travel can result in lost productivity. This can be significantly reduced when travel is restructured to be more efficient. This is where AI travel solutions are making a real difference in the way companies and government organisations plan and conduct travel.

Not only do they save employees time in planning a trip and arranging transport and accommodation, but these tools also provide the best options in terms of both carbon offsets and safe, comfortable travel on a budget. This can help government departments improve productivity; reduce travel-related costs; and meet their environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments at the same time.

Image credit: iStock.com/horstgerlach