BITCI earns bronze for its commitment to Sustainable Travel
Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI) has been awarded the Smarter Travel Mark at Bronze level, by the National Transport Authority.
The Smarter Travel Mark is recognition of BITCI’s commitment to changing attitudes and behaviours in a positive way towards walking, cycling and public transport by implementing measures that facilitate, support and encourage sustainable travel options for our workforce and visitors.
According to the latest emissions report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the transport sector is the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland, accounting for 21.4% of overall emissions in 2023. It’s also the only sector which showed an increase in emissions compared to 2022. It’s key that all organisations embrace this agenda and work towards decarbonisation and a sustainable approach to transport.
BITCI is a movement for sustainable change in business, and as such we advocate for a comprehensive approach to reducing the carbon footprint of business and provide guidance to member companies to progress their journey towards zero carbon emissions. Our Low Carbon Pledge was developed as a mechanism to enable CEO-led collective action on decarbonisation, with almost 70 signatories coming together and committing to set Science-Based Targets no later than December 2024, including significantly reviewing and assessing indirect and supply chain emissions known as scope 3.
Scope 3 emissions are broken down into 15 categories, including business travel and employee commuting, which are relevant to all organisations and present a unique set of challenges and opportunities for our member companies and for us at BITCI. Indeed, as an office-based organisation providing professional services, employee commuting and business travel are significant contributors to our carbon footprint.
Taking part in the Smarter Travel Mark initiative enables us to ‘Walk the Talk’. It has helped us to highlight some of the best practice initiatives currently in place at BITCI such as putting public transport first for all our events and business travel, encouraging employees to cycle to the office and to business meetings with a cycle allowance (13 cents/km) implemented a few years ago and the ‘Cycle to Work’ government scheme to facilitate bike and equipment purchase.
The process also allowed us to look at how our initiatives are articulated and communicated internally and look for ways to elevate and continuously improve upon this. It has opened the door to many ideas and opportunities for improvement that we are excited to implement over the coming months.
For example, we recently trialed business travel to continental Europe by sea and land with a member of our Advisory Services team attending a partner’s Sustainability Summit in Brussels in June 2024.
Neela Couture, Sustainability Adviser at BITCI, said “The annual conference organised by our partner CSR Europe is an opportunity for us to share and learn from sustainability networks all over the EU and to present our initiatives at a European level. Having already traveled by sea and land to my home country of France, it was natural for BITCI, in line with our commitment to sustainable travel to test this option for professional matters. I left Dublin early on the morning of June 24th using the SailRail system, which combines ferry to Holyhead and train to London for a fixed price all year round, allowing me to reach London at 2.30pm. So far so good! I finished my journey on a direct Eurostar train to Brussels city centre, just 2 hours and 15 minutes from London. Based on this experience and taking into account multiple criteria, such as the quality of the internet connection during my trip, ease of access to electricity supply, time and cost, the BITCI’s management team and sustainability committee now plan to develop guidelines for future business travel for staff, allowing for the specificities of personal situations.”
The Smarter Travel Mark is a valuable tool for any organisation wishing to put sustainable travel on the agenda. The great thing about it is that it meets you where you are at, provides insights into your strengths and highlights opportunities for improvement. As many businesses work to reduce their scope 3 carbon footprint, which includes business travel and employee commuting, we believe applying for the Smarter Travel Mark provides strategic support.
We look forward to implementing further sustainable travel initiatives to support staff and visitors in choosing environmentally friendly transport options. With the support of National Transport Authority consultants, Business in the Community Ireland is well placed to take the next step in our journey.
To learn more about the Smarter Travel Mark, please consult the National Transport Authority’s website at Smarter Travel Mark – National Transport
