Has the drive to save money replaced high-minded ideals about carbon offsetting? Adam Knights of ATPI believes TMCs can add real value by understanding how the two issues go hand in hand

About three years ago corporate travellers – or at least their employers – couldn’t board an aircraft without thinking first about their carbon emissions. The carbon calculator became a must-have web tool and suppliers all rushed out their own versions, often with links to their preferred offsetting scheme. But feeling good about offsetting ended as soon the global economy slumped. Companies continue to talk about their green credentials, but reality suggests cost savings have become the priority.

For Adam Knights, international sales director at ATPI, the decision isn’t as cut and dried as all that. “Instead of presenting the two sides as mutually exclusive, TMCs should reinforce their positions as valued business partners by seeking to explain more about the emissions debate.

“How and why companies travel is a matter for them. But you have to make your advice as robust as possible,” says Knights. Here are his steps towards assessing the carbon situation:

Step 1: Are emissions even an issue?
Let’s not get drawn into a debate about climate change! What we are talking about is ‘does the company ‘need’ to care?’ Evidence suggests that among the general public, carbon offsetting is not a significant ‘want’. A BBC report commissioned last year showed that just three per cent of passengers flying with Virgin Atlantic and easyJet offset their emissions. But attitudes change when the traveller’s employer is paying. Talk of CO2 and offsetting remains a feature of RFP documents. High-profile corporations who want to be seen as CSR compliant may be involved in offsetting schemes but the average company is less likely to be. We have a handful of customers who ask us to report on carbon emissions, though we have the processes in place to report for all customers and our travel itineraries all include a link for travellers to calculate and offset a booking.

Step 2: How do you calculate?
The one certainty about emission calculations is that you are guaranteed a different figure wherever you turn for an answer. The simplest systems return a fixed figure for each point-to-point journey, but these distance-based models are arguably useless.

In reality, a massive number of variables affect emissions – flight duration, type of aircraft, and class of travel are the ones commonly considered. But you’ve got other things in the mix too, such as engine type, fuel type and load factors.
Take a look at the small print included with most carbon calculator tools and the word ‘estimate’ is likely to appear a number of times. Calculations are based on estimates of the C02 emitted and estimates of the cost of offsetting. For example, Amadeus uses data from the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s carbon emissions calculator – as does the United Nations. Sounds impressive, but it still involves guesswork.
We spent 18 months developing our carbon calculator to come up with a tool that takes into account as many of the variables as possible with an algorithm that weights each factor. It is based on a report from Oxford University’s Centre for the Environment, commissioned by Climate Care.

Figures will always be averaged out because we will never know enough about each particular aircraft movement – but we think we’re doing less averaging than others, and that is a key point. Working out believable carbon output for each sector, and being able to prepare MI at any point, is vital.

Step 3: Offset or not?
With the number of solutions available as well as the current economic climate it is not surprising travellers have yet to be convinced of the merit of contributing to these schemes. In addition, there is ongoing distrust of the myriad offsetting schemes offered. A Friends of the Earth report went as far as calling offsets a ‘dangerous distraction.’

ATPI sees positives to both sides of the debate. We aim to provide the inform-ation to corporates to help them make an informed choice. At the moment companies admit the environmental impact is a secondary driver. We’re not seeing it grow; I wish it was but that is a reflection of the current economy.

Ironically, it is the economic climate and not climate change that has cut business travel in the past 18 months. Videoconferencing companies are highlighting their services and TMCs have sought to tap into their resources through partnerships. Going forward, the environmental debate will become potentially even more complex as stock exchange style trading kicks in for the whole area of offsetting.

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