BTN Intelligence's Business Travel Sustainability Report 2025


Published: 15 September 2025


As more companies commit to publicly reporting their environmental impact, the pressure to measure and cut carbon emissions from corporate travel is intensifying. But how much progress is really being made? Are strategies and attitudes consistent across regions? And which tactics are proving most effective in driving more sustainable traveller behaviour? This new BTN Intelligence report explores these questions and more, drawing on survey responses from nearly 200 travel managers. The findings are unpacked in four in-depth articles, supported by corporate case studies and expert commentary on the most pressing sustainability challenges and solutions in business travel today.


The current state of play
The current state of play

In spite of evolving political and regulatory stances on sustainability, corporates appear undeterred in their efforts to reduce the environmental impact of business travel, according to new BTN research

Converting targets into actions
Converting targets into actions

Travel buyers are deploying a range of tools and policies to drive travel emissions reductions, according to BTN's survey, with the implementation of carbon budgets proving increasingly popular

Collaborating for carbon savings
Collaborating for carbon savings

Under pressure to add sustainability to their skillset, BTN's research showed travel buyers are turning to a range of partners to help reduce the environmental impact of their business travel programmes

The difficult decarbonisation journey
The difficult decarbonisation journey

Decarbonising corporate travel demands more than compliance. Pressure from peers, employees and regulators is rising, with SAF, carbon budgets and purposeful travel central to achieving 2050 net zero goals

Carbon comes first
Carbon comes first

Case study: For implementing measures that help the company prioritise carbon over cost, Zurich Insurance took home the Managed Travel Programme of the Year title at the Business Travel Sustainability Awards

Power to the people
Power to the people

Case study: Arcadis is moving from a centrally managed programme to providing travellers with tools to monitor their travel carbon emissions and manage their own footprints and budgets

The climate bites back
The climate bites back

For travel managers, 'double materiality' could change reporting from ※what impact does travel have?§ to ※how does climate change affect travel?§ 每 and why both now matter to corporate strategy

Interview: Michael Schneider, IATA
Interview: Michael Schneider, IATA

IATA*s assistant director for aviation environment, Michael Schneider, discusses the challenge of balancing the aviation industry's continued growth with the urgent need to decarbonise

Staying power
Staying power

Accommodation often contributes only a sliver of companies' business travel emissions, but the gap between sustainable and carbon-intensive hotels is considerable, as increasingly granular data is demonstrating

Numbers up
Numbers up

Airline emissions data is increasingly detailed, but corporate disclosure on scope 3.6 travel emissions remains inconsistent, revealing gaps in transparency across business travel*s biggest climate impact


SURVEY METHODOLOGY
The first four articles in this report examine the results of a survey conducted by Business Travel News designed to paint a picture of travel buyers' views on sustainable travel and the strategies their companies are deploying to reduce the environmental impact of their activity. The survey was promoted via dedicated email blasts to BTN's buyer audience in Europe and North America and through personal outreach between April and July 2025. It was completed by 198 travel managers. Sixty-one per cent of respondents were located in North America, 33 per cent were in Europe; and 6 per cent represented other regions.
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