Aquila Services : Climate-conscious travel as Aquila remain Carbon Neutral Plus

Over the past 6 months we have rolled out a new policy to ensure climate-conscious travel at Aquila. We continue to be Carbon Neutral Plus and strive to decrease our emissions wherever possible.

The single largest source of carbon emissions across the Aquila Group is business travel, resulting in around 82% of total emissions. Of that, Air travel accounts for most business travel carbon emissions, producing 42% of this figure, car travel accounts for 34%, rail travel accounts for 21.5% and other travel accounts for the remaining 2%.

Business travel is a necessary part of our work as our ability to serve clients often depends on visiting their locations and it is vital for building relationships which is an important part of our brand. This is particularly true of our international work which has more limited alternative travel options. However, we have been working over the past few years to understand and drive down our carbon emissions, and a key part of that is challenging ourselves on the requirements, frequency, and mode of travel.

How do we implement climate-conscious travel?

Our travel policy is intended to highlight the ways in which Aquila staff can minimise their business travel and encourage sustainable travel behaviour within and outside of work. To support this Aquila Group Policy, each subsidiary will develop their own bespoke travel policy and guidance that is tailored to their own requirements, in particular how they engage with their clients. However, they all share a common approach with an aim to reduce business travel.

Reducing travel emissions involves both reducing the number of journeys our staff need to make and looking for less carbon-intensive methods when business travel is required.

We have set out that all staff members should undertake an assessment to determine if the journey is necessary, and where it is considered necessary the mode of transport used should be guided by the following sustainable travel hierarchy:

A guide to climate-conscious travel

To support the continued reduction of our carbon emissions, we also support a culture of remote and flexible working and using technology to collaborative across the business, following the success of moving online during Covid-19, as well as season ticket loans, the government's cycle to work scheme and awareness raising, and endorsement of, efficient and sustainable modes of transport to be used for professional and personal needs.

To Read Aquila's Full Sustainable Travel Policy, please click here.

Watch our video for more information on the work of Aquila's Employee-led initiatives: The Green Group and EDI Group.