Companies remain committed to sustainable business travel, but progress is slowing in some high-impact areas.
Corporations worldwide remain committed to managing and reducing the carbon footprint of their business travel, but new data from the Global Business Travel Association’s GBTA Foundation indicates that progress toward sustainable business travel is uneven and slowing in critical areas.
The findings come from the second year of the GBTA Sustainability Acceleration Challenge, a global benchmark developed with Accenture to assess corporate sustainability maturity in travel programs. The 2025 report draws on input from 285 companies with a combined annual business travel spend of $22 billion, a 20% increase compared to 2024. The global maturity score also rose, albeit slightly — from 1.3 to 1.4 on a 0–5 scale — reflecting steady but incremental progress.
According to GBTA, more organizations are joining the effort to track and manage travel emissions, with measurable improvements in some areas. However, significant challenges remain, particularly in embedding sustainable procurement, influencing travel decisions, and scaling investments in low-carbon travel solutions.
“Year two of our benchmark shows real engagement and growing commitment. But despite progress, greater urgency is needed,” said Delphine Millot, Senior Vice President, Advocacy and Sustainability, GBTA, and Managing Director, GBTA Foundation. “To future-proof business travel, companies must accelerate adoption of sustainable procurement practices and carbon management strategies.”
Smaller companies (those with travel budgets under $5 million) made notable advances, perhaps using sustainability leadership as a way to stand out from competitors. However, some of the world’s biggest programs moved backward, the study found, possibly due to intensifying public scrutiny. The regression also may be due to regulatory pressure, economic uncertainty or competing business priorities, according to the report.
Sectors found to be continuing leadings in sustainability maturity are financial services, banking and insurance continued to lead sustainability maturity, followed by professional services and consulting.
Some of the bright spots showing areas of improvement include the adoption of cost-positive sustainable travel policies and carbon budgets, both of which showed strong year-over-year gains. Reporting and target-setting also became more standard practices as organizations formalize sustainability commitments, though again larger companies showed some regression in these areas.
However, progress has slowed in other areas. Among the bottlenecks are an underutilization of tools that influence traveler booking decisions, such as carbon fees and sustainable options in online booking tools. Sustainable procurement clauses such as the GBTA Sustainable Procurement Standards also show little movement, hindered by limited technology and guidance.
While investment in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is also growing, it remains modest, with only 15% of companies purchasing SAF certificates in 2025, up from 12% last year.
Recognizing Leaders and Innovators
To highlight standout performers, GBTA introduced its inaugural Acceleration Awards and Leaderboards, honoring companies demonstrating leadership in sustainable travel. Among the winners were BDO LLP (Europe Regional Leader), Kearney, Parexel, University of California, IKEA, and Nokia, recognized for their innovation and measurable impact. The full 2025 Acceleration Leaderboards and award winners are listed on the GBTA Foundation website.
“These companies exemplify the leadership and collaboration needed to transform business travel for a net-zero future,” Millot added.
GBTA also spotlighted the GBTA Sustainable Business Travel Transition Pathway, a practical guide for organizations moving from awareness to implementation GBTA developed with Accenture. Additional GBTA Foundation resources, such as the SAF Corporate Connect and upcoming training on Sustainable Procurement Standards — aim to help companies embed sustainability into their core business travel strategy.
The report overall found that while the corporate travel sector is making strides, accelerated collaboration, it must continue to innovate and reform procurement processes to achieve meaningful carbon reduction goals.
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