Thanks to technological support from ClimateTrade, members of Spain’s GEBTA (the Association of Business Travel Agencies) will have access to solutions to offset the CO2 emissions of corporate trips.
Since GEBTA and ClimateTrade announced their strategic agreement in May 2021 to promote sustainable company policies, corporate travel agencies have shifted their CSR strategies: from simply offering sustainability consulting to their clients, they have implemented practical solutions that allow them to directly offset their impact. This is strengthening the agencies’ own sustainability commitments, as well as their clients’.
Agencies are now offering high added-value services to their corporate clients, starting with the voluntary offset of the carbon footprint of corporate trips.
How does carbon offset work in the travel sector?
By integrating ClimateTrade’s digital tools and solutions in their processes and settlements, companies receive detailed information on the volume of CO2 emissions from their trips and stays.
To achieve this, the digital climate company uses CO2 emission calculators that measure the footprint of flights, hotel accommodation, car rentals, buses and taxis, making them an indispensable tool to manage the carbon accounting of the agencies’ clients.
With this CO2 measurement and visibility, companies can voluntarily offset their carbon footprint by acquiring credits certified by governments or other international organizations. This certification guarantees that the corporate indicators of companies’ CSR and environmental policies, as well as the sustainability reports requested by ESG auditors and investors, are traceable and transparent.
The strategic partnership between GEBTA and ClimateTrade
The ambitious agreement signed between the two organizations is an opportunity to accelerate the carbon neutrality of corporate travel by 2050, the deadline set by the European Climate Law.
The application developed by ClimateTrade for carbon footprint offsetting is based on blockchain technology, reducing transaction costs and removing the need for traditional intermediaries or brokers. Each transaction and its associated value is visible to anyone with access to the system.
On the other hand, the carbon credits generated follow the most authoritative international standards, such as the UN CDM Registry, the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Gold Standard, among others.
With this agreement, specialized business travel agency GEBTA joins the sustainibility leaders such as Iberia Airlines, Meliá Hotels, Cabify Mobility Services, Banco Santander, Telefónica, Suez or Danone in their carbon efforts.
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This article was written by Francisco Martín, Head of Engineering at ClimateTrade, and Marcel Forns, president of GEBTA.
