EN3.1
Business travel: travelling for work (by air)
Travel
Environment
Business travel: travelling for work (by air)
Reducing travel or replacing travel methods with less harmful alternatives, when travelling for work other than commuting to and from the office. When considering national or international travel by air, choosing less harmful alternatives could include:
- Choosing a different method of travel by land or sea;
- Choosing a seat in a different class of seating, requiring less space per person and therefore using less fuel.
- Meeting from home, telecommuting rather than travelling.
Measuring greenhouse gas emissions allows organisations and individuals to have numbers for carbon offsetting programmes or initiatives, if travelling is unavoidable.
Figures factoring in RF (Radiative Forcing) should be used. Greenhouse gas emissions cause more damage to the environment at higher altitudes so the multipliers need to be higher than for other forms of travel.
Key Value
£252 per tCO2e or 25.2p per kgCO2e
Carbon values in £2020 prices per tonne of CO2: central series for 2023 is 252£. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/valuing-greenhouse-gas-emissions-in-policy-appraisal/valuation-of-greenhouse-gas-emissions-for-policy-appraisal-and-evaluation
This headline value comes from the UK government Greenhouse Gas Conversion Factors
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting
Bronze
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
At the Bronze level, you should calculate the approximate mileage travelled by an average air passenger, by type of air travel, as each produces different levels of carbon emissions.
Type of air travel includes:
- Domestic travel
- Short haul (to/from UK)
- Long haul (to/from UK)
- International (non-UK)
For example, an average air passenger generates:
- 0.24587 kgCO2e per kilometre travelling on a domestic flight
- 0.19309 kgCO2e per kilometre travelling on a long-haul flight
Calculate the distance between departure and arrival airports for approximate mileage travelled, then multiply by the carbon emissions equivalent per kilometre travelled on a standard class ticket.
Consider factoring in hotel accommodation into your carbon emission calculations for business travel. They should be included in any Scope 3 reporting. Refer to UK government’s greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors for hotel accommodation.
Here’s an example
Using https://www.airmilescalculator.com/ to calculate air miles
Travel from Manchester Airport to Chicago O’Hare = 6157 kilometres.
1 km travelled = 0.19309 kgCO2e
Total greenhouse gas emissions = 6157 * 0.19309 = 1,188.8551 kgCO2e
Total value of long haul flight = 1,188.8551 * 0.252 = £299.64
Overnight accommodation in Chicago = 6.1 kgCO2e per night.
Refer to UK government’s most recent Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting
Silver
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
At the Silver level, you should calculate your approximate mileage, by type and class of air travel, as each class produces different levels of carbon emissions.
As per the Bronze level, type of air travel includes:
- Domestic travel:
- Short haul (to/from UK):
- Long haul (to/from UK):
- International (non-UK):
Depending on the type of flight, class of air travel can include:
- Economy
- Premium Economy
- Business Class
- First Class
As per the Bronze level, include any overnight accommodation.
| Haul | Class | kg CO2e per passenger/pr km |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic, to/from UK | Average passenger | 0.27258 |
| Short-haul, to/from UK | Average passenger | 0.18592 |
| Economy class | 0.18287 | |
| Business class | 0.2743 | |
| Long-haul, to/from UK | Average passenger | 0.26128 |
| Economy class | 0.20011 | |
| Premium economy class | 0.32016 | |
| Business class | 0.58029 | |
| First class | 0.8004 | |
| International, to/from non-UK | Average passenger | 0.1758 |
| Economy class | 0.13464 | |
| Premium economy class | 0.21542 | |
| Business class | 0.39044 | |
| First class | 0.53854 |
Here’s an example
Using https://www.airmilescalculator.com/ to calculate air miles
Travel from Manchester Airport to Chicago O’Hare = 6157 kilometres.
1 km travelled by business class = 0.42882 kgCO2e
Total greenhouse gas emissions = 6157 * 0.42882 = 2,640.245 kgCO2e
Overnight accommodation in Chicago = 6.1 kgCO2e per night.
Total value of greenhouse gas emissions from a 3 night trip = (2,640.245 + (6.1 * 3)) * £0.252 = £669.95
These are figures for 2022. Refer to UK government’s most recent Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors for the most up to date values:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting
Gold
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
At this level you should be measuring the actual mileage of each journey, by plane travel type and class.
As per Bronze and Silver, include any overnight accommodation.
Refer to UK government’s most recent Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-conversion-factors-for-company-reporting
| Value Type: | Activity |
What's this?
This is the type of value. Some values are outcomes, which means many different interventions might lead to them, others are specific interventions that have a set value. |
|---|---|---|
| UN SDG Categories: |
|
What's this?
The UN Sustainable Development Goals are global goals adopted in 2015 for all signed up nations to achieve for us to have a sustainable global future by 2030. There are 17 Goals that address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The Goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030. |
| PN06/20 Categories: |
|
What's this?
PPN 06/20 Taking account of social value in the award of central government contracts introduced the Central Government Social Value Model in 2020 which all Central Government contracting authorities must use in their in scope procurements. It consists of 5 themes, 8 policy outcomes, and 24 Model Award Criteria which outline key priority areas to achieve more social value. |
Evidence
Measure Up focuses on empowering you to numerically measure the impact you’re having. We recommend that numeric reports are backed up with stories and other types of evidence to help illustrate, in human terms, the impact that’s being made on individuals.
We recommend seeking consent from participants in your intervention to collect and tell their story. This should include a little background on the participant, a summing up of life before the intervention, the human impact of the intervention, and the longer term (if known) impact on the person’s life outside of, and after, the intervention.
Providing photographs, audio recordings, video interviews or even artefacts from the intervention (for example, writing, paintings, music from creative interventions) can add more to the story, and convey the emotional impact of interventions more directly.
In some cases it’s appropriate to anonymise or abbreviate the personal information of case study participants. No story should be published or shared without the recorded consent of the individual(s) it concerns. Individuals continue to own the rights to their stories and if they request you stop sharing the story or making it available online you should do so promptly and without need for justification.
Feedback
Measure Up is open, collaborative and transparent. If you have any suggestions or feedback on our pragmatic, recommended approach to measuring and valuing social value, including wellbeing, economic, and fiscal impact, and effects on our environment, please get in touch so we can share and discuss this at our next Advisory Group meeting.
More help
We want to empower anyone to perform and improve their impact measurement – without needing a degree in economics.
If you need any more help, or just someone to do the legwork for you we can help signpost you to software, training and consultancy to help you get to grips with the impact you’re having and value you are creating.
