Rethinking the Systems That Power Travel

World Environment Day is often a moment for reflection, but increasingly it is also becoming a reminder of the scale of change required across industries. In travel, that conversation is evolving quickly.

Corporates are becoming far more aware of the importance of protecting the environment, and many organisations are embracing sustainability ahead of legislative mandates. At the same time, travel remains a critical business enabler. It strengthens relationships, supports global operations and drives growth, particularly for organisations managing mobile workforces and international supply chains.

The challenge facing the industry is not whether travel should happen, but how it can happen more responsibly.

That requires a shift in thinking. Sustainable travel is not driven by a single initiative or technology. It is shaped by a wider ecosystem of infrastructure, energy, policy, supplier collaboration, data and human behaviour. In other words, it is the systems behind travel that need to evolve.

Sustainable Travel Starts Long Before the Journey

One example familiar to all of us is the increased adoption of virtual meetings. Ten years ago, few would have imagined the volume or complexity of conversations now comfortably conducted online. While face-to-face interaction remains essential in many industries, technology has created opportunities to reduce less critical travel while maintaining business continuity and collaboration.

At the same time, travel programmes themselves are becoming smarter. Data now plays a central role in helping organisations make more informed decisions, whether that is identifying lower-emission suppliers, shifting domestic travel to rail, or encouraging fewer but longer trips that achieve multiple objectives in a single journey. Every decision that reduces emissions contributes towards sustainability goals that help protect our planet.

Awareness is often the first step. Today’s booking platforms increasingly provide visibility of CO2 emissions at the point of sale, helping travellers and organisations understand the environmental impact of their choices in real time. For some corporates, this acts as a simple behavioural nudge. For others, it is being embedded directly into travel policy and programme objectives.

The Infrastructure Behind Sustainable Travel

As emissions reporting improves, organisations also have far greater access to data that can help identify where reductions are achievable. However, some of the most significant changes will ultimately come from the industries designing and powering the future of transport itself.

Aircraft manufacturers continue to invest in lighter and more efficient designs. Rail infrastructure is becoming increasingly electrified. Electric vehicles are becoming more accessible as charging networks expand. Hotels are embracing greener energy sources and more sustainable building materials. These advances demonstrate how sustainability is becoming embedded within the infrastructure surrounding travel, not simply layered on top of it.

Government support and industry collaboration will remain essential in accelerating this transition. Scalability is critical. Sustainable travel cannot become something only accessible to organisations with the largest budgets. As adoption increases and technologies mature, the cost of change becomes more commercially viable and self-sustaining.

How SAF and Electrification Are Shaping the Future of Travel

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is one of the clearest examples of this evolution in practice. As a drop-in fuel, SAF does not require technical modifications to aircraft, making adoption relatively straightforward operationally. However, affordability and supply remain challenges. Wider adoption, alongside the continued scaling of SAF production from responsible and sustainable feedstocks, will be critical in bringing costs down and supporting long-term availability.

Simultaneously, aviation is seeing progress through a combination of operational and technological improvements, from more efficient aircraft designs to measures that reduce overall flight routes and airport circling, to the use of EV tow trucks in airports, reducing fuel burn further.
Beyond aviation, rail and electric vehicle infrastructure continue to expand globally, allowing travellers to access lower-emission transport options without compromising comfort, efficiency or safety.

Yet despite this progress, the reality is that the travel industry remains some distance away from truly low-emission mobility at scale. For many organisations, some level of unavoidable emissions will continue to exist for the foreseeable future.

The Role of Carbon Offsetting and Nature-Based Solutions

This is why many businesses are taking a broader approach to sustainability programmes, combining robust emissions measurement and year-on-year reduction strategies with investment in carbon compensation for residual Scope 3 emissions. High-integrity nature-based projects can play an important role, not only through carbon sequestration, but also by supporting biodiversity, protecting habitats and delivering positive outcomes for local communities.

Importantly, sustainability is no longer viewed in isolation within mature travel programmes. Travel managers increasingly recognise that emissions reduction, cost control, traveller wellbeing and duty of care are deeply interconnected.

Why Data-Driven Travel Decisions Matter

Some of the most advanced travel programmes now use data to analyse multi-leg journeys that could be replaced with more direct routing, reducing both traveller fatigue and emissions. Others identify short-haul air journeys that could realistically shift to rail, often delivering both cost and carbon savings simultaneously. This is where data-driven decision-making becomes particularly powerful, helping organisations move beyond ambition and towards practical action.
However, challenges remain.

Data quality and methodology consistency continue to vary across the industry, creating confusion for organisations trying to build credible sustainability strategies. Greater alignment through emerging international frameworks and standards will be essential in helping corporates and travel management companies adopt more transparent and comparable reporting approaches. The CountEmissionsEU is hopefully a first step in this direction.

Sustainable Travel Is About Travelling With Purpose

There is also still a wider misconception that sustainability means reducing travel altogether.
In reality, sustainable travel is not about stopping travel. It is about travelling with purpose.
When organisations work collaboratively with suppliers, technology partners and internal stakeholders to reduce emissions, there are benefits across the entire ecosystem.
Travel remains essential to global business, economic growth and human connection. The focus now must be on building systems that allow the industry to operate more responsibly in the long term.

SAF investment is one example where increased demand is already helping improve scalability and affordability in some markets. Often, a multitude of smaller changes and investments can collectively deliver meaningful impact.

What Needs to Happen Next?

For organisations beginning this journey, the first step is often embedding sustainability directly into the travel programme itself. Setting targets, improving reporting and aligning travel decisions with wider corporate climate goals all help create accountability and measurable progress.

Travel managers also have a critical role to play. Increasingly, they are becoming central contributors to broader corporate sustainability conversations, helping organisations identify opportunities to reduce emissions while maintaining operational effectiveness.

Ultimately, meaningful progress will not come from a single solution. It will come from rethinking the systems that power travel, and recognising that sustainability is most effective when it is embedded into every stage of the journey.