A new study by SAP Concur, a provider of integrated travel, expense and invoice management solutions, has found almost nine in ten businesses (86%) across the Asia Pacific (APAC) say their companies are actively considering sustainability when managing corporate travel. This widespread determination to be environmentally sustainable has been revealed in new research released ahead of World Environment Day on June 5.
The SAP Concur APAC Sustainability Survey, was conducted by Consulting Group – Asia Insight, polling 648 senior and mid-level managers in corporate travel, finance, HR, procurement, and sustainability across Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea.
According to the Air Transport Action Group, aviation is responsible for 12% of CO2 emissions from all transport sources; and the World Resources Institute reported that business travel represents about 15% to 20% of global travel. Many companies have gone beyond articulating sustainability principles to putting things into practice through their corporate travel policies, driven by their leaders.
About 56% of the respondents said their “senior leadership” is driving the sustainability agenda for corporate travel. This group comes ahead of “employees” (47%), “those responsible for sustainability initiatives” (47%), and “those responsible for corporate travel” (41%).
The survey also suggested organisations are investing in sustainability outcomes. More than half of the APAC firms surveyed said they committed resources to championing sustainability. About 34% of the firms have someone who manages sustainability as part of their role, while 21% have dedicated personnel handling sustainability.
“The research findings were a significant departure from the pre-pandemic days where Asia Pacific organisations were more concerned about travel cost savings than the environmental impact of their actions,” said Matthew Goss, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Asia Pacific and Greater China, SAP Concur.
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