T&E Study: German companies fly without any climate limits

85 percent of the world's leading companies do not set sufficient targets to reduce emissions from business travel, including all the German top companies surveyed, such as the car manufacturer Volkswagen. This is the result of the current business travel ranking of the Travel-Smart campaign by Transport & Environment (T&E) with the German member associations Germanwatch and the ecological traffic club VCD. Volkswagen, KPMG, and Johnson & Johnson are the global "frequent flyers" of the Travel-Smart ranking, which do not pursue any targets for reducing their travel emissions. Other German companies that also do not pursue targets and are among the largest emitters of emissions from business travel include Siemens, SAP, Thyssenkrupp, Bosch, and Bayer.

Targets would be realistic

The study shows that such targets are indeed realistic. Companies of similar size and similar industries have already committed to ambitious goals. These include, for example, Deloitte and AstraZeneca. The study also shows that if the largest business travel emitters reduced their emissions by 50 percent, this would already achieve half of the Travel-Smart demand's goal to halve business flight emissions by 2025. We must make all efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Therefore, a significant reduction in emissions from air travel is more important than ever.

Only 50 out of 322 companies have plans to reduce emissions

Currently, only 50 of the 322 companies surveyed have set targets to reduce business travel. Of the companies with targets, only four companies receive the "Gold Standard," meaning they report on their air travel emissions and commit to reducing them by 50 percent or more by 2025 or earlier. These include Novo Nordisk (pharmaceuticals, Denmark), Swiss Re (finance, Switzerland), Fidelity International (finance, United Kingdom), and ABN Amro (finance, Netherlands). Of the 322 companies, Roland Berger is the only German company to have such targets. The company plans to reduce travel emissions by 40 percent by 2028.

"Most large companies in Germany are not yet living up to their responsibility, but rather are causing severe climate damage with air travel. And they are not taking advantage of the opportunities for more advanced business travel: It is much better and more pleasant to work on the train than on the plane. The mobility transition must also reach business travel," explained Jacob Rohm, Climate-Friendly Mobility Officer at Germanwatch.

The ranking also examines companies' reporting on non-CO2 effects of business flights. Forty companies take a pioneering role. The pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca and Pfizer as well as the consulting firms BCG and Deloitte set a good example and consider the full impact of flying in their reporting, as does the German company Siemens Healthineers AG.

Flying is three times more harmful to the climate than assumed

Flying is about three times as harmful to the climate as often assumed, the NGOs explain further. This is because climate damage is not only dependent on CO2 emissions; around two-thirds are caused by non-CO2 effects. In addition to CO2, aircraft engines emit fine particles (soot) and other gases, such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and water. These are referred to as non-CO2 effects. Estimates suggest that they are responsible for two-thirds of the overall global warming caused by air traffic. However, very few companies take the full impact of their air travel into account by including these non-CO2 effects, criticize the NGOs.

Urgent solutions needed

To reduce aviation emissions, urgent solutions are needed. Since sustainable fuels and emission-free aircraft will not be available until after 2030 according to the current schedule, and compensation measures cannot replace the reduction of emissions, the best way to reduce air travel emissions is to fly less. The Travel-Smart campaign calls on companies to set ambitious targets to reduce emissions from business travel.

"Companies can set a good example and set clear guidelines. They should ask themselves if a videoconference might be possible instead of a long-haul flight. For business trips within Germany and to neighboring countries, the rule should be: train over plane. If the top German companies consistently asked these questions, they could collectively contribute a lot to reducing CO2 emissions," appeals Michael Müller-Görnert, Transport Policy Spokesperson of the VCD.

Note for editors: Transport & Environment launched the Travel-Smart campaign in 2022 together with partners. Every year, the campaign publishes a ranking of companies based on their sustainable business travel practices. The campaign aims to encourage companies to reduce their business travel emissions by 50 percent or more by 2025 or earlier compared to pre-Covid levels.