Industry Benchmarking

What is Benchmarking?

When one thinks of a company’s benchmarks, usually what comes to mind are revenue metrics that help evaluate performance - both internally and against competitors. We should also be thinking about the environment to understand how each company’s CO₂e emissions measure up against the competition.

Climate change has come to the forefront as one of the highest-priority environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues facing businesses today. A 2021 survey by Macquarie Asset Management showed that climate change is widely considered the priority ESG issue for investors. Now more than ever, it has become increasingly important for businesses to track and report GHG emissions reductions, especially with policymakers proposing new emissions disclosure rules.

While our travel platform does not report CO₂e emissions to the government or regulatory bodies, it is law in forty (40) countries across the world to report Greenhouse Gas (GHG). The currently includes the United Kingdom, many EU (European Union) member states, North America, Australia and Japan.

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Our platform’s carbon benchmarking is a way for users to understand CO₂e emissions relative to a selected reporting period versus their peers. Development of our travel platform will continue in the Sustainable Travel space to help both agencies and company platform users (e.g. travel managers) to evaluate their historical, current and future (forecast) carbon footprint from travelling.

Carbon Benchmarking

Carbon benchmarking serves two (2) primary purposes:

1. The systematic evaluation of a company’s emissions relative to its peers to understand the market and environmental performance.

2. The evaluation of GHG emissions internally - a company can benchmark against its performance and measure progress over time. Internal carbon benchmarks require companies to set a baseline - annually or before significant programs or active management.  

Ideally, these efforts result in a better understanding of a company’s environmental impact and the effectiveness of its sustainability measures which should include a “green business travel policy”.

Widget - Anatomy of Benchmarking

The following section provides an in-depth look at the Sustainability widget’s benchmarking.

The top section, based on the selected date range filter (e.g. 30D), gives the total CO₂e emitted by the number of travellers (profiles who actively took at least 1 trip) and the total number of trips (i.e. bookings) indicated.

Colour coding is reflective of comparisons with the average of the classified industry (e.g. Professional, Scientific & Technical Services).

In the last 30 days, a total of 138.81 CO2e was emitted by 230 (active) travellers from a combined total of 343 trips (bookings).	In the last 30 days, a total of 234.93 CO2e was emitted by 127 (active) travellers from a combined total of 190 trips (bookings).

The middle section, based on the selected date range filter (e.g. 30D), gives the per cent (%) variation of the CO₂e emitted for each segment type (air, hotel and car rental) when compared with the average of the classified industry (e.g. Professional, Scientific & Technical Services).

In the last 30 days, for the total 343 trips taken that emitted 138.81 tonnes of CO2e, the breakdown is: Air segment(s) is 57% below the average for the classified industry. Hotel segment(s) is 115% above the average for the classified industry. Car segment(s) is 114% above the average for the classified industry.	In the last 30 days, for the total 190 trips taken that emitted 234.93 tonnes of CO2e, the breakdown is: Air segment(s) is 16% above the average for the classified industry. Hotel segment(s) is 29% below the average for the classified industry. Car segment(s) is 0% below/above the average for the classified industry.

The bottom section, based on the selected date range filter (e.g. 30D), gives the per cent (%) variation of the total CO₂e emitted when compared with the average of the classified industry (e.g. Professional, Scientific & Technical Services).

The 138.81 tonnes of CO2e emitted within the last 30 days, is 44% below the average for the classified industry.	The 234.93 tonnes of CO2e emitted within the last 30 days, is 12% above the average for the classified industry.

Colour Coding

The colour coding is reflective of the CO₂e emitted when compared to the average for the classified industry. Following is a summary of the travel platform’s application of each for the trips data analysed.

🍃 Discover more about the travel platform’s industry benchmarking and emissions compared in the following articles.