When it comes to having an impact on the Earth’s carbon footprint, global business travel, estimated to generate $1.57 trillion in annual spending, wears some pretty big shoes. That’s why the GBTA Foundation, the non-profit, purpose-led arm of the Global Business Travel Association, has taken on the mission of raising sustainability awareness among buyers and suppliers as well as measuring what progress is being made.
So how are things going? Despite current setbacks in federal environmental policies, the latest GBTA Foundation findings indicate that while progress may be slower than desired, companies are still committed to tracking and managing carbon emissions generated from their employee travel programs. There have also been measurable gains in the maturity of these travel programs and more organizations are joining the effort.
Acceleration Challenge
The 2025 findings are the results of the GBTA Foundation’s Sustainability Acceleration Challenge, which was launched two years ago to monitor sustainable business travel activity among participating companies. Some 285 companies, representing an annual travel spend of $31 billion participated in the benchmarking challenge, a 20 percent increase in the number of participants the year before.
“It’s an annual benchmarking exercise, which plays a dual role,” said Kelsey Frenkiel, Director, Sustainability Programs, for the GBTA Foundation. “It’s an assessment to figure out the maturity level of travel programs and sustainability. We ask such questions as whether or not they have a policy on sustainability and if they are asking suppliers about what they are doing. We also worked with Accenture to develop a scoring methodology from 0 to 5 for each participant.”
With a score of 0 indicating “no activity” and 5 indicating “leading practice,” the 2025 challenge results showed a slight increase, with an average score of 1.4 compared to 1.3 in 2024.
The challenge results revealed some differences between company size and industry sector. Companies with smaller (under $5 million) travel programs made notable progress, while the largest programs (over $500 million) regressed overall. The contrast, according to GBTA, indicates that larger companies may be slowing their sustainability efforts due to intense public scrutiny, while smaller companies may view sustainability leadership to differentiate themselves. Among industries, the financial, banking and insurance sectors scored highest (1.9), followed by the professional services and consulting sector (1.7).
Overall, companies showed the most progress when it came to building reporting and targeting settings into their travel programs. Areas where improvement is most urgently needed included adopting tools that influence booking choices, along with adopting sustainable procurement practices and carbon management strategies.
According to Frenkiel, the fact that this year’s scores were in positive territory came as a relief.
“We were worried, as there’s been a lot of news that companies are scaling back,” she said. “What we found, however, is that people are not backing down. Companies may not be talking as much about sustainability measures as they once were, but they still have them and are progressing.”
Frenkiel believes there is reason for optimism, with sustainable travel practices having “become part of the DNA” at many companies.
“It’s harder for them to abandon these practices now,” she said. “If you take a big multi-national company, sustainability is now embedded into all their different departments. Even if they get rid of their sustainability team, it’s not the end of it. Their travel team, their procurement team still have the policies. They have become embedded in their fabric. Policy is a big driver and so are customer expectations, investor expectations. As long as those drivers are still there, we will continue to see those practices.”
Not only do companies need to be mindful of customer and investor expectations on sustainability and the impact this has on their reputations, they need to take their employee expectations into account, according to Frenkiel.
“Generation Z expects their employers to value sustainability,” she said.
Hotel Partners
While air travel is often the main focus in reducing the carbon footprint, hotels and event venues also play an important role in sustainable travel. According to Frenkiel, many hotels and event venues are making important strides in such areas as renewable energy, waste and water management, and using locally sourced, plant-based foods, but lack an effective framework for communicating their efforts.
“We’re looking for ways to help them standardize conversations about sustainability with their key customers,” she said. “One big question buyers have is what kind of certification hotels have. We have a whole education guide on hotel sustainability for buyers that explains the different certifications. We encourage buyers to learn about this and what they mean.”
Frenkiel added that a growing number of hotels are emphasizing sustainability in employee training, including how it relates to procurement policies and procedures. “We are releasing a suite of educational resources and assessment tools designed to help buyers and hotels.”
When it comes to event management, Frenkiel urges planners to not only measure the carbon footprint of events, but use the information to track progress and set goals for improvement.
“It’s hard to improve year over year if you’re not tracking the impact of your event, and there are many tools out there to help you do this,” she said. “And don’t be afraid to try new things. For example, a lot of hotels have really good options for vegan and vegetarian choices, and conference attendees often find plant-based menus help keep them energized and focused. Don’t get stuck in old standards.”
Where Luxury and Sustainability Co-Exist
Does a hotel’s full-on commitment to sustainability mean compromises in providing a premium guest experience? Not at the Populus Denver, where care for the environment is reflected in myriad ways, among them stunning biophilic design, thermal and waste management efficiency and community partnerships that include sourcing foods from local farms and planting a tree in a national forest for every room night sold.
Thomas Hudson, Environmental Experience Manager for Aparium Hotels, the parent company for Populus Denver and Populus Seattle, believes the Populus Denver is helping redefine the luxury hotel experience.
“There’s an older way of thinking about luxury, which has to do with excess and decadence, and a modern way, which is the direction we’ve taken it,” he said. “It has more to do with quality over quantity, with providing a feeling of calm that you get from an environment using non-synthetic materials like natural stone and wood. Where you can take a breath after a busy travel day.”
Guest responses to the hotel’s sustainability focus have been positive, even from those who aren’t particularly interested in environmental issues, according to Hudson.
“We don’t overtly emphasize what we’re doing, but we do reward curiosity and our service team will work it into the conversation where it makes sense,” he said. “Our business guests love to know they are responsible for planting a tree every night even if they’re part of a corporate room block.”
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