How GBTA is shaping the future of sustainable corporate travel

Sep 5, 2024

Delphine Millot, the Senior Vice President for Advocacy & Sustainability at the Global Business Travel Association, discusses crucial initiatives for promoting sustainability in business travel. She highlights the staggering impact of corporate travel on emissions, with some companies attributing up to 80% of their scope 3 emissions to it. Millot emphasizes the role of sustainable aviation fuel in decarbonizing the industry and the need for collaboration between travel managers and sustainability teams for meaningful change. She also notes regional differences in sustainability efforts, particularly Europe's leadership.

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INSIGHT

Sustainability’s Importance

While only 8% of travel managers prioritized sustainability in a 2023 poll, later research showed 85-90% find it important.
This suggests phrasing and context greatly influence responses regarding sustainability's prioritization.

INSIGHT

GBTA Foundation’s Role

The GBTA Foundation, GBTA's charitable arm, focuses on workforce development and climate challenges within business travel.
It addresses the "people" and "planet" aspects of the industry's ecosystem.

INSIGHT

Business Travel’s Potential

Business travel, though emission-intensive, offers a unique opportunity for change due to its concentrated nature.
Its concentrated demand signals can drive industry-wide sustainable investment.

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In this episode, we talk to Delphine Millot, Senior Vice President for Advocacy & Sustainability at Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), who shares insights into GBTA’s initiatives to promote sustainability in business travel and the challenges faced by the industry.

Millot also serves as the Managing Director of the GBTA Foundation, which serves as the charitable arm of GBTA, focusing on workforce development, women empowerment, and addressing climate challenges in the business travel sector.

Millot discusses:

The role of GBTA in developing global sustainable procurement criteria for business travel, covering various sectors including aviation, hotels, and ground transportation.
The significant impact of business travel on corporate emissions, with some companies seeing up to 80% of their scope 3 emissions coming from business travel.
The importance of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in decarbonising aviation and GBTA’s efforts to promote corporate investment in SAF certificates.
Regional differences in sustainability efforts, with Europe leading the way due to cultural awareness, infrastructure, and regulatory pressures.
The collaboration between travel managers and sustainability teams within companies to drive meaningful change in business travel practices.

Throughout the conversation, Millot emphasises the need for a balanced approach to sustainability in business travel, acknowledging its importance while recognising the essential role of travel in global business. Looking to the future, she discusses GBTA’s upcoming acceleration challenge for the global business travel industry, which aims to track and encourage progress in sustainable travel practices.

If you LOVED this episode, you’ll also love the conversation we had with Nora Lovell Marchant, Vice President of Global Sustainability at American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT). She discusses various initiatives such as a blockchain-powered SAF platform, an independently verified carbon offsetting programme and more. Check it out here.

Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry’s challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book ‘Sustainability in the Air’. Click here to learn more.

Feel free to reach out via email to podcast@simpliflying.com. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.

Links & More:

Global Business Travel Association

Sustainability - GBTA

Sustainability Acceleration Challenge - GBTA

How Amex GBT is building platforms for SAF and Carbon Offsets - SimpliFlying