Clean Business Travel

Make business travel climate neutral

An initiative project supported by the Nordrhein-Westfälische Stiftung für Umwelt und Entwicklung, conducted by Germanwatch, European Business Council for Sustainable Energy (e5) and ECC Kohtes Klewes.

Because it lies outside of the operational environmental management systems, environmentally conscious companies have not been able to directly influence business related air travel conducted by their employees. This proactive project wants to provide companies with a pragmatic concept to take over responsibility for the climate also in this area. By doing so, they proactively prepare for probable political regulation. Its first step concerns establishing a pilot and a co-operation project for North-Rhine-Westphalian companies that will radiate throughout all of Germany.

Air traffic is important in guaranteeing the competitiveness of the economy. At the same time, its greenhouse gas emissions contribute considerably to climate change. As it is difficult to allocate emissions from air travel to individual states, they have not been considered in the existing regulations on climate protection (e.g. the Kyoto Protocol). Even the development of alternative fuels bears hardly any potential in reducing the effect of aviation on the climate.

At the moment, the Federal Government of Germany and the European Union are working, through means of legislation, to close this gap in the international climate protection laws. Thus, companies today are in the position to either wait for these regulations (simply having to accept them, once they are there) or be proactive and have a say in shaping this legislation, e.g. to take credit for their early actions later on. This project wants to highlight such achievements and discuss them. Thus, the active participation of companies will be important.

The Approach

In accordance with international regulations and conceptual approaches, which have in particular been developed by NGOs, this project is meant to discuss pragmatic and applicable possibilities of dealing with climate risks deriving from air travel.

The first step is to find and collaborate with as many companies from North Rhine-Westphalia as possible, that are aware of the environmental impact of their own business air travel. In the beginning, a questionnaire is to acquire the current status quo of business air travel by North Rhine-Westphalian companies. Answers to be found are,

which economic and ecological potential there is for substituting air travel by telecommunication;
which economic and ecological potential there is for changing business travel over from planes to other means of transport, especially trains;
how the emissions of unavoidable air travel can be offset through climate protection projects.

Efficiency and form of such possibilities are to be discussed with companies in two workshops (May 8th, 2003 and February 10th, 2004).

Documentation:

Workshop 10.2.04: Presentations + Info
Workshop 8.5.03: Presentations + Info
Excel-Tool
Vergleichsstudie: Anbieter von Dienstleistungen für den Ausgleich von Treibhausgasemissionen
Links

Contacts:

Germanwatch
Christoph Bals
Kaiserstraße 201, 53113 Bonn
Tel. (0228) 60492-17
bals@germanwatch.org

e5
Julio Lambing
Willy-Brandt-Straße 4
D- 61118 Bad Vilbel
Tel. (06446) 926978
Tel. (06101) 8024-10
lambing@e5.org

ECC Kohtes Klewes
Dr. Axel Klein
Kaiserstraße 33, 53113 Bonn
Tel. (0228) 91514-221