Setting the standard: How are companies setting travel emission targets?

McKinsey & Company: The Intensity-Based Approach

As a global management consulting firm, travel is integral to McKinsey's operations. The company has committed to a 1.5°C-aligned climate strategy, with a specific focus on reducing its significant travel footprint.

Image from https://www.mckinsey.com/about-us/environmental-sustainability

The Target:
McKinsey aims to reduce per-employee business travel emissions by 35% by 2025 and 55% by 2030, using a 2019 baseline.

Why It Works:
McKinsey chose an intensity-based target, which links emissions to a specific business metric—in this case, the number of employees (per-employee or per-FTE). This approach is highly effective for growing companies because it measures efficiency. Even as the firm expands its workforce, it is committed to reducing the carbon impact of each employee's travel. This demonstrates a focus on decoupling business growth from emissions growth.

Key Takeaway: An intensity-based target provides a scalable way to measure progress, making it an excellent choice for organizations anticipating changes in size or revenue.

Boston Consulting Group (BCG): A Focus on Per-Capita Reduction

Similar to McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is another leader in management consulting where travel is a core part of its business model. BCG has embedded its climate goals directly into its corporate roadmap, ensuring accountability and public progress tracking.

Image from https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/how-bcg-is-accelerating-its-climate-journey

The Target:
BCG has committed to reducing business travel emissions per full-time equivalent (FTE) by 48.5% by 2025, against a 2018 baseline.

Why It Works:
Like McKinsey, BCG uses an intensity-based target. By focusing on emissions per FTE, BCG can clearly track its progress in making travel more efficient on an individual level. This method promotes smarter travel policies, such as prioritizing virtual meetings, choosing rail over air for short distances, and optimizing trip planning to reduce unnecessary journeys.

Key Takeaway: Focusing on a per-capita metric empowers individual employees and departments to contribute directly to company-wide sustainability goals.

PwC (Global): The Absolute Reduction Strategy

As a vast professional services network with over 370,000 employees, PwC's collective travel footprint is substantial. The company has integrated its travel emissions goals into a broader, global net-zero plan, demonstrating a firm-wide commitment.

Image from https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/about/corporate-sustainability/environmental-stewardship/net-zero.html?

The Target:
PwC aims to reduce its absolute business travel emissions by 50% by 2030, compared to a FY2019 baseline. You can see the outline of PwC's decarbonization targets in the illustration below:

Why It Works:
PwC opted for an absolute target, which focuses on cutting the total amount of emissions, regardless of company growth or revenue changes. This approach is straightforward and sends a powerful message about an organisation's commitment to decarbonisation. An absolute target requires fundamental changes in how a company operates, encouraging significant shifts in travel behaviour and policy.

Key Takeaway: An absolute target is a bold commitment to reducing your total environmental impact, making it ideal for established companies looking to demonstrate strong climate leadership.

Jacobs Solutions Inc.: A Combined Scope 3 Approach

Jacobs, a global engineering and technical services firm, has taken a comprehensive view of its Scope 3 emissions by including both business travel and employee commuting in its target.

Image from https://sciencebasedtargets.org/target-dashboard 

The Target:
Jacobs has committed to reducing absolute emissions from business travel and employee commuting by 50% by 2030, from a 2019 baseline.

Why It Works:
By setting an absolute target that covers multiple Scope 3 categories, Jacobs acknowledges the interconnectedness of its indirect emissions. This holistic approach encourages the company to develop broader policies that influence employee behaviour both during and outside of work hours, such as promoting public transport or flexible work arrangements.

Key Takeaway: Grouping related Scope 3 emissions categories can streamline your strategy and lead to more comprehensive and impactful reduction initiatives. 

AECOM: A Multi-Stage Reduction Plan

AECOM, an infrastructure consulting and engineering firm, has defined its emissions reduction journey with a long-term vision, setting targets for both the medium and long term.

The Target:
AECOM plans to reduce its absolute business travel emissions by 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2040.

Why It Works:
AECOM uses an absolute target but stages it over time. This multi-phase approach, part of their "Travel with Purpose" strategy, breaks a larger goal into more manageable milestones. It allows the company to implement foundational changes first and then build on that success to achieve deeper decarbonization in the future.

Key Takeaway: Setting near-term and long-term targets creates a clear, phased roadmap, making ambitious goals feel more achievable while maintaining momentum.

Akind Venture AB: Net-Zero for the Entire Value Chain

Akind Venture, a professional services and HR solutions company, demonstrates that organisations of all sizes can set ambitious, science-aligned goals. Their target is part of a comprehensive commitment to achieving net-zero across their entire value chain.

Image from https://akindgroup.com/reduction-targets   

The Target:
Akind Venture commits to reducing absolute Scope 3 emissions (including business travel) by 58.8% by 2034 and achieving net-zero across its value chain by 2045.

Why It Works:
This absolute target explicitly includes business travel as part of a broader Scope 3 reduction plan. By aligning with the SBTi Net-Zero Standard, Akind Venture ensures its targets are scientifically robust and contribute meaningfully to global climate goals. This is a powerful statement for a company with around 600 employees, proving that size is not a barrier to climate leadership.

Key Takeaway: Aligning your travel emissions target with a broader net-zero commitment ensures that your efforts are part of a cohesive and credible long-term strategy.