Business travel travelling for work (by sea)

Business travel travelling for work (by sea) refers to any work-related journey made via sea transport—typically by ferry, boat, or sometimes ship—as part of an employee’s professional duties. This can include:

Taking a ferry from an isle to mainland UK for client meetings or site visits.

Using a boat to access remote work sites or island facilities.

Traveling by passenger ferry to attend a work conference or training session.

EN1.3.3

Business travel travelling for work (by sea)

Environment
  • Measuring GHG Emissions

Key Value

0.028

The monetised value of sea travel emissions per average passenger per km.

This value represents a cost or disbenefit through the creation of the GHGs emitted.  

Air conversion factors should be used to report Scope 3 emissions for individuals travelling by sea for work purposes. For more information about principles for GHG accounting and reporting and three “scopes” of emissions, please visit MeasureUp EN1 GHG Emissions value.

According to the 2021 carbon values from DESNZ/BEIS, Carbon values in £2020 prices per tonne of CO2: central series for 2023 is £252 per tCO2e or 25.2p per kgCO2e. For more information, please visit MeasureUp GHG Emissions value.

UK government’s Greenhouse Gas Conversion Factors – 2024 reports the kgCO2e per average passenger per km including indirect effects of non-CO2 emissions. Access the data.

Sea-based conversion factors should be used to report travel for business purposes on ferries.

Activity Type Unit kg CO2e Monetised value (£)
Ferry Average (all passenger) passenger.km 0.113 £0.028

The business travel- sea conversion factors are for use for passenger travel, not for freighting goods. Full freight factors are available in the ‘freighting goods’ listing.

Please visit the government conversion factors for greenhouse gas reporting website for further guidance.

This value represents a cost or disbenefit through the creation of the GHGs emitted.  The value should therefore not be presented as a positive value or added to an overall social value figure.

Local Needs Analysis Data Source

Before using this MeasureUp value, we encourage you to assess the local need in relation to the activity or outcome.

Here is the most useful initial data source for assessing local need in relation to this value.

To assess local needs related to the value EN1.3.3 ‘Business travel: travelling for work (by sea)’, you can use indicators that show how people commute and how accessible employment centres are by different transport modes. Key data sources include: Method of travel to work (Census 2021)

– Provides detailed information on how people commute (e.g., car, public transport, cycling, walking), available at local authority and MSOA levels. This data is collected every 10 years. Travel time to employment centre by mode of transport (ONS – Local Statistics Explorer)

– Offers insight into the accessibility of work opportunities by different transport types. Data will be available for local authority, combined authority, region, and country levels. You can filter data by country, region, combined authority, or local authority, depending on the indicator. Together, these indicators help evaluate the sustainability and efficiency of local commuting patterns and identify areas where investment in transport infrastructure or remote working policies may be beneficial.

Bronze

Effort

Accuracy

Monetised value:

At the Bronze level, you should calculate the approximate km travelled by an average sea passenger. Represent the cost or disbenefit of the emissions from sea travel.

  • Estimate the approximate distances in km or miles
  • Multiply the distance by the monetised cost of travel

Here’s an example

A small consulting firm based on the Isle of Wight regularly undertakes business travel via ferry to the mainland for meetings, client visits, and project engagements. The company is committed to measuring and reporting its environmental impact, particularly focusing on travel-related emissions.
Over the last reporting year, the company recorded a total of 3,500 passenger kilometres travelled by ferry for business purposes.

  • Emissions: 3,500 passenger.km × 0.113 kg CO₂e = 395.5 kg CO₂e
  • Monetised Value: 3,500 passenger.km × £0.028 = £98

Silver

Effort

Accuracy

Monetised value:

At the Silver level, you should calculate your approximate km, by type passenger, as each class produces different levels of carbon emissions. Represent the cost or disbenefit of the emissions from sea travel.

UK government’s Greenhouse Gas Conversion Factors – 2024 reports the kgCO2e per km/miles traveled by ferry for different types. Access the data.

Activity Type Unit kg CO2e Monetised value (£)
Ferry Foot passenger passenger.km 0.01871 £0.005
Ferry Car passenger passenger.km 0.12933 £0.033

Here’s an example

A consultancy based on the Isle of Wight undertakes regular business trips to the mainland via ferry, with employees traveling either as foot passengers or as car passengers (sharing vehicles). The company tracks this travel to report annual carbon emissions and associated environmental costs as part of its sustainability strategy.

Annual Ferry Travel Data:
In the reporting year, the company recorded:

  • 2,000 passenger.km travelled as foot passengers
  • 1,500 passenger.km travelled as car passengers
Activity Type Passenger.km kg CO₂e/unit Monetised Value (£)
Ferry Foot passenger 2,000 0.01871 £10
Ferry Car passenger 1,500 0.12933 £49.5
Total monetised value £59.5

Total Monetised value of sea travel for this organisation is £59.5 over a year.

Gold

Effort

Accuracy

Monetised value:

At the Gold level, you would be expected to

  • Measure more accurately using more specific data for you in-scope activities.
  • Track the emissions over time. Steps in tracking emissions (choosing a base year and recalculating base year emissions) are explained in detail in the GHG Protocol Chapter 5 – Tracking Emissions Over Time

Here’s an example

The company tracks this travel to report annual carbon emissions and associated environmental costs as part of its sustainability strategy. In 2024, they decrease the car passengers to decrease their carbon emissions.

Year Activity Type Passenger.km kg CO₂e/unit Monetised Value (£)
2023 Ferry Foot passenger 2,000 0.019 £10
2023 Ferry Car passenger 1,500 0.129 £49.5
Total monetised value in 2023 £59.5
2024 Ferry Foot passenger 2,500 0.019 £12
2024 Ferry Car passenger 1,000 0.129 £32.5
Total monetised value in 2024 £44.5

So, the monetised value of the reduction in greenhouse gas emission from 2023 to 2024 for travel by sea is £59.5 – £44.5 = £14.

Gold+

Effort

Accuracy

Monetised value:

In the Gold+ level of GHG emission values, you can focus on better management and improvement of your reporting on the GHG emissions.

The following steps could be useful:

  • Set clear targets and a target date
  • Provide resources to take the actions necessary to meet your target

Environmental Reporting Guidelines: In the  Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting Guidance (SECR) there are two types of targets outlined:

  • An absolute reduction target which compares absolute figures in the target year to the base year
  • An intensity target based in an appropriate other unit or normalising factor (e.g. kgCO2e per km/miles traveled by sea)

For more information please visit Environmental Reporting Guidelines: Including streamlined energy and carbon reporting guidance (SECR).

The actions under Gold+ for the environmental values in MeasureUp are also in line with the eighth Principle of Social Value ‘Be Responsive’ which represents the imperative for organisations to respond to impact measurement or ‘Social Value accounts’ with action to improve positive impact and decrease negative impact. Users of this Standard will create a structured ‘impact management approach’ that can guide decision making at strategic, tactical, and operational levels to optimise impacts on wellbeing.

Value Type: Activity What's this?
UN SDG Categories:
  • 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • 13. Climate Action
 What's this?
2020 Social Value Models:
    • MAC 4.1 Additional environmental benefits
    • MAC 4.2 Influence environmental protection and improvement
    • Policy Outcome 4: Effective stewardship of the environment
    • Theme 3: Fighting Climate Change
 What's this?
2025 Social Value Models:
What's this?

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.

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.

Data Sources