HSBC last year reduced its carbon emissions from business travel by 26 percent and is endeavoring to cut further by coaxing more travelers to rail--not only from air but also from car trips--pressuring suppliers to focus more on sustainability and optimizing use of videoconferencing equipment.
In an ongoing effort to become carbon-neutral, HSBC implemented global supply chain metrics measuring carbon emissions across 16 different activities, including business travel. In 2009, absolute business travel emissions fell to 125,000 tonnes, according to the company's most recent corporate social responsibility report. The business travel carbon footprint per full-time employee was 0.43 tonnes, down 19 percent from 2008. Carbon emissions for business air travel specifically also dropped 19 percent per full-time employee, handily surpassing HSBC's 10 percent reduction goal.
"One of the things that I discovered looking at a lot of our metrics is that it's not getting people off planes and [onto] trains; where that can happen it has largely already happened," said HSBC ethical trading and sustainability purchasing manager Geoff Stafford. "Looking at our carbon footprint, it's the driving that is actually one of our biggest things." In 2009, HSBC employees traveled 167 million kilometers in cars versus 26 million kilometers in trains.
Speaking here this month at the Business Travel Market conference, Stafford explained that he is particularly focused on moving travelers from their own vehicles to trains in the United Kingdom where oftentimes travelers can reach a destination quicker by rail. One idea he had was to allow travelers to buy first-class rail tickets "under certain circumstances," like advanced purchases that could potentially be cheaper than driving, in addition to less carbon intensive. "It could be within policy to go first class, be more comfortable and be more productive, and you have gotten them out of their cars," Stafford added, noting that this is not an option HSBC has pursued.
"I have learned that [travel] is a very personal decision for a lot of people," said Stafford. "If I am going to succeed in influencing those travelers, I need to keep that in mind and make sure I understand what drives those individuals to make various decisions and to influence them to pick the appropriate option." He appeals to travelers in three ways: making the environmental argument, explaining the profitability of green practices and working around their personal needs in a more sustainable way. "Different people do respond to different incentives and different programs."
By issuing department scorecards, HSBC enables managers and travelers to monitor carbon emissions. "If one person in Edinburgh says, 'I want to go to New York and I am willing to take the train from Edinburgh [to London] weekly to save my carbon for my New York trip,' then great," Stafford explained. "If another person says they are not going to take that train [between Edinburgh and London], I can cancel the New York trip to remove some carbon. I will let them do what's best for them."
Stafford told The Transnationalthat HSBC this year created "regional carbon reduction targets," with performance against those targets reported quarterly to regional leaders. Within the first few months, the approach "already achieved one of our goals by highlighting the importance of sustainability throughout the organization. People have sat up and listened in ways they hadn't in the past."
Other Efforts
Meanwhile, Stafford is "pushing" the company to contract with suppliers that support HSBC's green initiativesby performing sustainability assessments.
"Historically, buyers will often weight different aspects [of a tender] differently and then put a quantitative result against each potential supplier," Stafford explained. "We've just added sustainability to that mix (e.g. 30 percent cost, 30 percent service, 30 percent quality, 10 percent sustainability)." The 10 percent "guideline," he added, "is only just beginning and is not yet a hard and fast policy or requirement."
Additionally, the company seeks more efficient use of its videoconferencing equipment, which often is installed in unavailable meeting rooms. "Our challenge is less about buying more videoconference machines but making sure that you have a good program in place for booking their usage," said Stafford. "We have a whole bunch of them, but they are all sitting in conference rooms needed just for [face to face] meetings. When someone needs a videoconference, they can't get one because there is someone sitting in front of them having a meeting." Stafford is looking into having rooms specifically for videoconferencing, as they will "probably be used more often."