GLOBAL BUSINESS 3/2020 Business Spotlight 17
accreditation
[E)kredI(teIS&n]
, Akkreditierung,
Anerkennung
aircraft [(eEkrA:ft]
, Flugzeug(e)
annual leave
[)ÄnjuEl (li:v]
, Jahresurlaub
capture sth.
[(kÄptSE]
, etw. einfangen
carbon dioxide equivalent
[)kA:bEn daI)QksaId
I(kwIvElEnt]
, Kohlendioxidäquivalentcharity [(tSÄrEti]
, karitative Organisation
coach [kEUtS] UK
, Reisebus
department
[di(pA:tmEnt]
, hier: Fakultät
emergency
[i(m§:dZEnsi]
, Notstand
engagement
[In(geIdZmEnt]
, hier: Termin
fuel [fju:El]
, Treibstoffinsurer [In(SUErE]
, Versicherungs-
gesellschaft
launch sth. [lO:ntS]
, hier: etw. ins Leben
rufen
perk [p§:k] ifml.
, Anreiz
scheme [ski:m]
, Programm
term time
[(t§:m taIm]
, Vorlesungszeit,
Semesterat Edinburgh University, says business travel is responsible for
a lot of the university’s carbon emissions. “In 2018, during term
time, staff and students travelled more than 66 million busi-
ness miles, emitting more than 18,000 tonnes of CO 2 e (carbon
dioxide equivalent),” he explains. “This is approximately 20
per cent of our carbon emissions, and our third-highest source
after emissions from the electricity and gas we use to heat and
power our campuses.” The university has started discussions
about whether the number of travellers can be reduced, and
whether additional value can be found by making trips longer,
so that multiple engagements can be combined. “By helping
departments to understand how much they travel, we have
started to increase awareness,” says Pickering. This year, the uni-
versity plans to introduce measures to reduce emissions from
business travel.
Rewarding climate-conscious employees
Some businesses have joined Climate Perks, a new programme
that works with climate-conscious employers to offer at least
two paid “journey days” per year to staff who travel to and from
their holiday destinations by train, coach or boat instead of fly-
ing. In return, employers receive accreditation “in recognition of
their climate leadership”. More than 30 companies have signed
up so far, according to the UK charity Possible (formerly known
as 10:10 Climate Action), which launched the programme.
“When it comes to cutting plane travel, the solution must be
based in behavioural and social change because there is no real
technological solution for cutting aviation emissions,” says
Emma Kemp at Possible.
Although it recently joined Climate Perks, the UK-based ethi-
cal insurer Naturesave launched a similar initiative more than a
decade ago for trips to Europe. “In recent years, we have seen it
grow,” says marketing manager Nick Oldridge. “Over the period
we have run the policy, a quarter of staff have taken advantage of
the benefit each year, resulting in an additional one or two days’
annual leave per person.” While he admits there is an associated
cost, there are definite benefits. “Those who use the scheme have
reported they enjoyed their holidays more and rediscovered the
pleasure of travel,” he says. “They are also proud of being able
to demonstrate to their friends and relatives that they have an
employer who takes environmental issues seriously.”
One employee taking advantage of the scheme is finance
manager Abha Wells, who has used it for trips to Scotland and
Belgium during the past two years. “Not only was it better for
the environment, but we were also able to take our bikes, which
made it even better. Now the climate emergency has become so
critical, I am planning to take more trips overland using the extra
days from our policy.”
Offsetting is not the answer
While carbon offsetting is offered by airlines and others, Cait
Hewitt of the Aviation Environment Federation says this isn’t
the answer to reducing emissions. “Offsetting might look like
a cheap and easy response to the climate change impacts of
business flights, but while a well-run
scheme will do some good elsewhere in
the world, it does nothing to solve the
problem of aviation emissions.” “There
are no green flights on the market today.
Rather than offsetting, businesses should
look hard at how to cut back on flight
numbers, change staff expectations about
flying and then maybe put the money
they have saved towards research and
development into genuine solutions for
zero carbon aviation, whether that’s zero
carbon fuel, electric aircraft or technolo-
gies for capturing and locking away CO 2
from the air once it’s emitted.”SUZANNE BEARNE is a freelance journal-
ist who focuses on such topics as small
businesses, careers, technology and
lifestyle. © Guardian News & Media 2020The European Green Deal
On 11 December 2019, the EU Commission presented the European
Green Deal, its plan to make Europe “the world’s first climate-neutral
continent by 2050”. The deal covers all sectors of the economy
and aims to “stop climate change, revert biodiversity loss and cut
pollution”.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen described the
European Green Deal as “Europe’s man-on-the-moon moment”.
Critics, on the other hand, such as former Greek finance minister
Yanis Varoufakis, say the EU’s investment plans are nowhere near
ambitious enough to meet its targets. The result, they believe, will
simply be a “greenwashed” status quo.greenwash sth.
[(gri:nwQS]
, etw. ein grünes Image
gebenpollution [pE(lu:S&n]
, Verschmutzung
(der Umwelt)revert sth. [ri(v§:t]
, hier: etw. umkehren
target [(tA:gIt]
, Ziel(vorgabe)Is flying necessary?
Stay put and
reduce emissions