Some travel buyers at U.S.-based companies are investigating the environmental impact of their corporations' travel and assessing the eco-friendliness of their suppliers' operations, in the anticipation that environmental concerns will become a more prominent theme in travel management and overall corporate operations.
So far, U.S. travel managers' interest, rather than senior management directive, is driving the trend. This is a different direction than what has occurred in Europe
(BTN, Dec. 5, 2005), where environmental concerns have been climbing buyers' agendas for more than a year
(BTN, May 16, 2005). In Europe, the impulse is top-down, with travel managers taking their lead from executive boards that are making sustainability a strategic commitment.
There are exceptions to this general picture, including U.S.-based business travel buyers who take their lead from global headquarters in Europe, such as Credit Suisse Group. Another is a handful of U.S.-based companies that have addressed environmental considerations for many years. These include Hewlett-Packard, which attempts to reduce travel by offering workers the option of working from home and through teleconferencing. It also has assessed suppliers' environmental credentials for more than a decade. Figuring out how to make such assessments is one of the biggest challenges U.S. travel buyers are noting as they approach this subject for the first time.
More evidence of growing interest in green issues was apparent last week at the Association of Corporate Travel Executives global conference in Atlanta, which included a seminar on environmentally responsible purchasing. ACTE also partnered with The CarbonNeutral Co. to offer an online calculator that allows members to estimate air travel mileage and the consequent sum they should pay to offset it.
One U.S.-based travel manager at the beginning of the environmental journey is Caro Cook, transportation section chief for the International Monetary Fund and also a member of ACTE's corporate social responsibility task force. "My first step is to educate colleagues that we need to do something, especially because of the amount of travel we do," said Cook. "The U.S. trails behind Europe on this, but this is the way we will all be doing business in the future, so we have to get on board. U.S. companies won't be able to operate in Europe unless they start getting involved. It will be tougher here, but when initiatives come from the bottom up, ultimately they are stronger."
Estée Lauder director of travel services Cindy Shumate is looking at green issues for the first time partly because she is consolidating the travel program of its environmentally conscious Aveda subsidiary. Shumate said the environment eventually will dominate travel programs for cost-related reasons. "It might throw companies back to a time when flying was much less common and costs were significantly higher," she said. "Only those who really must travel will do so."
A travel manager based in the Midwest who declined attribution said, "This is something on the radar. This issue will become more and more important and I try to put resources and tools in place before my people look for them." Speaking for many, however, the travel manager added she was unsure how to research the subject. "How can we go about assessing and tracking this?" she asked. "I have no idea, for instance, how to find out about hotels' environmental policies."
According to one expert on sustainable purchasing, providing such answers will make travel managers increasingly important at a strategic level to their organizations. Scot Case of the Reading, Pa.-based consultancy Responsible Sourcing led discussions on this subject at the ACTE conference. "More and more companies are preparing annual corporate social responsibility reports," he told BTN. "As part of that, they are including statements about their environmental impact and often discovering that the largest environmental footprint they have is associated with their business travel. As companies attempt to reduce their footprints, travel will be one of the most attractive targets. One way to address this is to travel less by making greater use of videoconferencing, but ultimately business requires face-to-face communication, so travel is not going away. Travel managers are recognizing an opportunity here to provide value to their companies beyond travel logistics, which can be outsourced and computerized. They can step up and add value by providing risk reduction and business protection."
Finding strategies to minimize environmental impact while growing globally is a difficult circle for any company to square. Environmental-awareness veteran Hewlett-Packard is a case in point. It still operates a small number of private jets and remains, at $135 million, the 18th-largest U.S. buyer of scheduled air travel, according to BTN's 2005 Corporate Travel 100 report
(BTN, July 4, 2005). According to HP's Global Citizenship Report, carbon-dioxide emissions caused by its travel rose from 226,000 metric tons in 2003 to 279,000 in 2005.
Despite this, HP has made considerable efforts to limit its travel-related CO2 emissions. These include promoting teleconferencing, which the company said has helped its imaging and printing business reduce mileage by 8 percent. Encouragement of telecommuting means 11,400 HP employees work from home, saving two million roundtrips to offices in 2005, thus avoiding 24,000 tons of CO2 emissions.
HP also expects its preferred travel suppliers to have environmental programs, processes and capabilities. Those that do not are considered "less desirable."
There are several starting points open to travel managers looking to assess suppliers' green credentials, especially among hotels. One is found in the National Recycling Coalition's guide to green meetings, which has a detailed request-for-proposal checklist, a scorecard and a wealth of advice on environmentally friendly meeting planning. Another is prepared by the Houston-based Green Hotels Association, which offers a more compact two-page checklist. Among the issues the questions explore are attitudes to reducing waste, recycling materials and reducing power.
GHA president Patricia Griffin recommended her questionnaire as a first step but said this must be followed up by asking hotels for proof for their answers, such as showing water bills for successive years.
Canada's Fairmont Hotels & Resorts employs wind-powered front-desk checkin computers and, more substantially, trains all its staff in green thinking. Michelle White, manager of environmental affairs for Fairmont, recommended as a starting point that buyers simply inquire whether a hotel has a defined environmental program. "It tells you if it is even on the company's radar," she said.
White claimed that her company has won corporate business on the strength of its environmental record. So too did J.P. Bergkvist, director of environmental sustainability for the Scandinavian, Hilton-owned chain Scandic Hotels and also for Hilton outside the United States. Bergkvist recommended asking hotels for their environmental policy, examples of best practices and their involvement with relevant non-governmental organizations, such as the International Tourism Partnership.
When it comes to eco-labeling and accreditation, however, there is less agreement. White likes the Green Key eco-labeling program run by the Hotel Association of Canada and the Energy Star by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Bergkvist also noted a few European regional eco-labels. However, he dislikes paid-for accreditation schemes. "This should be covered in the brand," he said. "You wouldn't ask a supplier for accreditation that it pays tax and does its bookkeeping."
Griffin has a different objection. "It can easily cost $5,000 plus costs to pay for an inspection," she said. "It is better for hotels to spend that money on the environmental improvements. Accreditation can also be a long-winded process."
However, Case approves of accreditation, especially a program called Green Seal. "I am a big fan of certification," he said. "Travel managers are very busy people. They haven't got time to research this. What they need to know is where to look."
Once buyers have determined which suppliers are environmentally friendly, they will have to decide what to do with the information. Shumate said she would like to offer a couple of green choices in each key city in Estée Lauder's online preferred hotel directory. She added that suppliers' environmental records could "possibly influence buying decisions."
How firmly these factors could and should determine supplier choice has not yet been crystallized by travel buyers on either side of the Atlantic. Cook said ACTE is looking at producing such a guide.