Outsourcing firms called out for unchecked business flight emissions
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM — A report by the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E) criticized several high-profile companies for not taking sufficient action to reduce the carbon footprint of their corporate air travel.
Outsourcing giants like Accenture, Wipro, Adecco, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra, Capgemini, Cognizant, Infosys, Atos, and Tata Consultancy Services are included in the report.
Professional services and consulting firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Deloitte, Ernst & Young Global, LTIMindtree, KPMG International, IBM, and JP Morgan Chase are also mentioned.
Despite ambitious sustainability goals, these companies have been highlighted for their significant share of aviation-related emissions without setting clear targets to mitigate their impact.
The T&E ranking assessed over 328 leading firms and categorized them — A, B, C, and D — based on their commitments and actions to reduce corporate air travel emissions.
The report also revealed that 25 firms — including Apple, Microsoft, Volkswagen, Holcim, Meta, and Alphabet — are responsible for 36% of the total aviation emissions from the companies analyzed.
The report emphasizes the need for these “top flyers” to halve their air travel emissions to contribute significantly to the required industry-wide reductions.
Denise Auclair, corporate travel manager at T&E, stressed the urgent need for these companies to set targets, warning that they risk falling behind competitors.
“There are no excuses for not taking action,” she said, pointing out that peers in their sectors have already set ambitious targets.
In response to the findings, KPMG reaffirmed its commitment to reducing the environmental impact of business travel as part of its net zero by 2030 goal.
However, the report indicates that most companies are still not establishing concrete plans to cut emissions-intensive business trips. Only 57 of the 328 companies have set reduction targets, and a mere 44 fully report the climate impact of their travel.
Florence Long from the Aviation Environment Federation warned that corporate climate targets are at risk due to the neglect of air travel emissions.
“It is imperative that companies set tangible goals and binding commitments to achieve lower levels of business flying,” Long stated.
While the report highlights 16 companies that received an A grade for their efforts, T&E is urging governments to mandate businesses’ reduction of travel emissions and include these targets in national climate plans.
This call to action comes as the aviation industry group Sustainable Aviation updated its net zero roadmap, claiming the UK’s aviation sector can grow while reaching net zero emissions by 2050 without government-imposed demand reduction policies.
