The world’s largest tech companies have slashed their business travel emissions by nearly half compared to 2019 levels, according to a new analysis by Travel Smart, a campaign led by the European federation for transport and environment (T&E). However, the lack of specific reduction targets for some of the sector’s most prominent players threatens to undermine this progress.
The study, which examined 26 major tech companies, found that business travel emissions in 2023 were down by an average of 49% compared to pre-pandemic levels. This follows an even steeper reduction of 62% in 2022, underscoring the need for firms to set clear targets to maintain these lower emission levels.
Yet, only seven of the 26 companies analysed have committed to specific travel emissions reductions. Among the laggards are industry titans Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and Apple. Neither has set clear targets, and their travel emissions are already bouncing back, down just 23% and 31%, respectively, in 2023 compared to 2019.
In contrast, Indian tech giant Wipro, which has pledged to cut travel emissions by 55% by 2030, achieved a 71% reduction, demonstrating the power of target setting.
This is Travel Smart’s second such analysis. In July, it found that business travel emissions among global consultancies were down 46% compared to 2019, with 12 out of 15 firms, including PwC, EY, and Deloitte, having set specific reduction targets.
According to Travel Smart’, tech companies bear a particular responsibility to lead on this issue, given their claims to climate leadership and their provision of remote technologies that can serve as low-emission alternatives to business travel. Yet, high-flying firms without targets, such as SAP, IBM, and Microsoft, risk backsliding towards their 2019 emission levels.
Denise Auclair, corporate travel manager at T&E, warned that tech companies’ climate credibility was on the line. “Tech companies have claimed to be climate leaders for a long time and many have substantially reduced their business travel emissions,” she said. “But if they want to be credible, they must set reduction targets. How can Sundar Pichai say that Google is progressing to a sustainable future when its travel emissions are going in the wrong direction?”
