COP27: Sustainability in Travel Procurement

At time of writing world leaders have been gathering in Egypt for the annual Conference of the Parties, UN climate change conference – COP27. And, while the event has not been short of controversy – such as reports over 600 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access to the event – it is hoped the gathering will result in the kind of decisive action on manmade climate change which is sorely needed.

COP27 is causing many brands around the world to think about how their organizations impact the environment around them and perhaps nowhere is this more relevant than in the travel industry. Air travel is one of the biggest contributors to carbon levels and procurement teams in this area are under increasing pressure to facilitate greener alternatives wherever possible.

How then can procurement teams make sure they are prioritizing sustainable travel options while still meeting the other demands of purchasing corporate travel options?

Sustainable Procurement

"Companies have many reasons to focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues,” says McKinsey. "They may want to satisfy their consumers, who are increasingly choosing brands with strong ESG credentials, even if the prices are higher. Or they may be seeking to stay ahead of ever more stringent regulations. For most organizations, the answer will be a combination of factors, which together add up to a need to understand and manage environmental impact through every part of the business, in real time.”

However, research from McKinsey, which surveyed 20 chief procurement officers from large European companies, found that, while 60% knew where they wanted their organization to be in terms of sustainable procurement, they had no aligned strategy in place to reach that goal. A mere 20% reported that their organizations used sustainability as a deciding factor when making purchasing decisions, and an even more paltry 10% had it baked into category strategies.

CPOs seem to accept therefore that more needs to be done to make sustainability a core part of their operational model. However, it’s clear they need more help in just how to achieve this. In our previous article on how the quantification of data is evolving in the travel industry, we identified new ways sustainability is being measured in accommodations. It would seem CPOs need to go back to the drawing board and find new ways of measuring sustainability in travel procurement and leveraging such data for the best results.

GreenPerk API

One brand which seems to be developing technology along these lines is TravelPerk – the company behind the world’s largest travel management platform.

Announced in March 2022, the GreenPerk API is designed from the ground up to streamline the process of travel procurement based on sustainable options. GreenPerk API aims to provide tools for climate-conscious consumers and businesses to measure their carbon footprint, strategize to reduce emissions, and aid the overall transition to net zero.

"We recognize the challenge in developing a sustainability strategy and as a business, we wanted to put our focus into providing a solution that is open, flexible and easy to integrate,” said CEO and co-founder of TravelPerk, Avi Meir in an interview with Procurement Mag. "GreenPerk API will enable companies to think holistically about sustainability, meaning not just reducing travel emissions but feeding this information into a wider approach that looks at tackling the environmental impact of collaborating in a hybrid working environment where business travel is a key component.”

The platform collates sustainability data into a single 360 view, which provides CPOs and their teams with all the information they need to assess the environmental impact of their purchasing decisions with direct access to data and analytics regarding a business's carbon footprint across flights, rail, accommodation, and car hire.

With the percentages of CPOs confident in their organization’s ability to bake sustainability into their procurement decision making process, technological solutions such as GreenPerk API offers an elegant solution which translates complex data into easy to understand and actionable insights.

"We’ve launched GreenPerk API because our customers and partners want to understand how they can better measure and reduce their travel-related carbon footprint,” said Head of ESG & Sustainability at TravelPerk, James Dent. "Business travel is an important part of that picture and we’re excited that our product and data will help businesses make the right decisions. Through GreenPerk API, we want to change global travel behavior and help businesses reach net zero by 2030.”

Final Thoughts

CPOs are aware of the need to choose more sustainable options when it comes to choosing corporate travel options. However, a lack of data sophistication is hampering whatever good intentions might be present in their organizations. Technological solutions can provide some answers but require motivation and buy-in from the top to be effective.

Sustainability is sure to be part of the conversation at FIMA 2023, being held in April at the Westin Copley Place, Boston MA.

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