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Holiday trips are sacred for many of us, and we
defy the shame of flying and take annual trips to warm southern climes or a
city break to Paris or New York.
But what about our business trips? If we cut
them out, we would reduce our climate footprint considerably.
Tom Erik Julsrud is head of research at the
University of Oslo’s Center for International Climate and Environmental
Research (CICERO). He recently carried out a study on business trips in Norway.
His findings show that the pandemic impacted
companies’ need to send people on trips. Many physical meetings have been
replaced by digital ones.
“But air travel has started
to increase again, and business travel appears to be on the rise,” Julsrud says.
“Will it level
off, or will it go even higher than before the pandemic?” he asks.
Differs from leisure
travel
Julsrud points out that business travel is
quite different from leisure travel, and they differ from each other in some
important respects.
Business trips are more purpose-oriented and less
experience-oriented.
They are managed by the company and the
employer, not by the individual wishes or preferences of the person actually
travelling.
“They can also be replaced more easily with
technology,” says Julsrud.
Between 30 and 40 per cent of all flights have
been business trips in recent years. In 2022, it was 33 per cent, according to Julsrud.
He found that people generally go on
business trips for three reasons:
- They
are attending meetings, such as board meetings or contract meetings. - They
are going to conferences. - They
are contributing operational assistance – for example, engineers who are
dealing with technical issues.
Employees have minimal input
Leisure travel is characterized by people’s
wishes and dreams, while business travel has more structural conditions. These
conditions include practical things, such as where the company’s various
departments are located or who the partners or suppliers are.
“Location dictates how business people travel,”
says Julsrud.
“Many large businesses are part of
international networks, which also affects the travel expectations,” says
Julsrud.
from The Western Norway Research Institute
1% of people cause half of global aviation emissions. Most people in fact never fly.
Companies need to change
So maybe the responsibility for reducing air
travel lies with the companies and employers instead of with the employees?
“I believe that companies should do what they
can to reduce flights that aren’t absolutely necessary and replace them with
public transport or the use of digital solutions,” says Julsrud.
“Flights are a significant source of emissions by
businesses, and most businesses probably still have great potential to reduce
their emissions impact. The pandemic clearly showed that many companies were
able to maintain their activities for longer periods without travelling.”
Julsrud believes we should be able to expect
figures to be included in the sustainability accounts that show emissions from
flights. And companies should document how they are working to reduce emissions
to a minimum.
“Nevertheless, the greatest potential for
reductions clearly lies with leisure travel, where we’ve seen the strongest
growth in recent years,” Julsrud says.
“We also have to expect some business trips by
air to continue as long as we’re part of a global economy where informal
communication and contact are difficult to avoid completely.”
Employees travelling less
Three companies took part in a survey for the recent
study, which has not yet been published in a scientific journal.
It turns out that employees are travelling to
meetings less by plane now than before the pandemic. They are also more
critically assessing whether a trip is necessary.
About half of the respondents had flown in the
past year. Just over half travelled domestically and 40 to 45 per cent travelled
abroad.
The study also shows that people now have more
digital meetings, replacing many of the meetings they would have previously
travelled to.
Will business travel decrease
even more?
When asked whether they expect to travel less
by plane in the future, however, most companies are unsure and answer that they
don’t know.
“People don’t quite know whether they’ll be travelling
more for work in the future or not. Some think it will be less, some think
more,” says Julsrud.
He believes the reason for this may be that
meetings that can be replaced by video conferences and the like have already switched
over to this. Meetings are often subject to external factors that employees do not
exercise any control over.
Technology cannot replace all contact in the
future, believes Julsrud, who presented some of the findings from the study at
a recent conference about air travel.
related
You will never fly to far-away holiday destinations by electric plane
Why do people go to
meetings?
Julsrud is trying to find out why people still
go to meetings.
Several survey respondents answered that the
most important reasons stated were the need for informal communication and
conversations, and that stakeholders are expected to be present.
Another reason given for travel to meetings was
the need to carry out complex tasks, investigations and observations on site.
“These responses show that a number of norms are
involved in being present at meetings. This doesn’t mean that these norms can’t
be changed, but some counter-forces can make it more difficult for employees to
further reduce their flights,” says Julsrud.
Economy more than climate
As mentioned, several of the companies in the
study have taken their experiences from the pandemic and now travel on fewer
business trips by air.
“I think we have an opportunity to make these
changes more permanent. But companies and enterprises have probably not started
to fly less primarily for climate reasons, but more for financial reasons.”
“And everyone has learned to use technological
tools more than before.”
Julsrud believes that “saving” on
travel in climate accounting is becoming more and more important. There will
probably be increasingly more requirements for it as well.
“But I don’t think it will have a huge effect
in the short term,” says Julsrud.
“A lot of knowledge companies work with numerous
complex tasks that require informal dialogue and being together in one place.”
“And norms are often difficult to change.”
“So I don’t think we’ll see huge changes in
business travel in the near future.”
Translated by: Ingrid P. Nuse
References:
The study is published as part of the project
“AVIATE: How can aviation contribute to a
low-carbon society?“
Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
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