RDG’s Green Travel Data

It’s had a change of name and is now going full steam ahead (or should that be electric!) to drive modal shift to train travel. Rail Delivery Group’s Green Travel Data (formerly known as the Green Travel Pledge) is delivering granular, transparent carbon emissions data to provide the industry with a credible benchmark for carbon calculations for rail versus road and air. The sustainability initiative has been in the making since 2023, when RDG began asking rail operators to provide detailed data on train occupancy, fuel type and journey distance (amongst other factors) to generate emission results for specific routes. In July 2024, Phase 2 expanded the dataset from 100 to over 40,000 direct business routes (more than 80,000 journeys in both directions) and emissions data for car travel was added, enabling direct comparison between rail and road. The initiative took another leap in April 2025 with a refreshed Green Travel Data identity and branding and a new online carbon calculator that can be embedded on external websites. The calculator also includes emission comparisons with air on routes with scheduled domestic flights. Organisations across the UK are now using these emissions insights to shape travel policies, achieve ESG goals and support Net Zero ambitions. Green Travel Data is helping corporates meet CSRD reporting standards and drive real change in their operations. There’s more to come, so watch this space.

Train Hugger

We love the catchy name of this new entry for 2025, which is as simple as its concept. Train Hugger is a specialist rail booking platform for corporates, travel management companies and individuals. Not only does it save its customers an average of 10% on their train fares, for every booking it also plants a tree in the UK via an exclusive partnership with the Royal Forestry Society. For every booking, Train Hugger will contribute around 25% of its revenue to restoring the British countryside. So far, it has planted close to 500,000 trees through over 50 separate projects and is being used by the likes of JD Sports, McLaren Construction, The England and Wales Cricket Board and advertising and communications giant WPP. Customers receive reports on the quantity, species and location of their trees and larger corporates and TMCs have the option to plant their own diverse forests, with employees invited to volunteer on specially-organised days out. Train Hugger’s platform can be integrated as an OBT into a TMC, or can be offered as a standalone to corporates with back-end integrations into existing technology stacks. Other useful features of the platform include the opportunity to use split ticketing, the ability for payment on account and credit card payments, multi-carrier European travel for the whole of Europe, multiple travel policies and custom fields, and e-tickets are sent directly to the traveller’s wallet. Customers will also get the support of dedicated account management. It seems they’ve thought of everything!

Greengage

It’s been another busy year for Greengage, the creator of ECOsmart accreditation, which helps hotels, venues and other travel businesses improve and showcase their sustainability credentials. It’s now in the process of rolling out SMARTscan, a time-saving AI tool for its clients, and also a carbon calculator, which enables businesses to measure environmental impact across all event elements – from travel and accommodation to catering, utilities and waste management. Greenage has also created 360 Consulting, a new division headed up by Consultancy Director, Sam Cande. To date, more than 500 properties in the UK hold the ECOsmart certification, which is fully aligned with Travalyst, GTSC, and UN SDGs frameworks. ECOsmart’s four-tier system drives continuous improvement with 37% of certified properties advancing to higher award levels within a year. The impact of the ECOsmart certification is demonstrated in a partnership with Village Hotels, where all 33 of the group’s properties achieved Gold Certification and reduced their carbon footprint by nearly 40% in just one year. Impressive results. It’s also been working closely with TMC partner Clarity Travel Management, which has integrated ECOsmart into its booking platforms ClarityGo and MeetingsPro, which leads us nicely to our next entry…

Clarity Business Travel

Investment in people, solutions, services and technology is helping Clarity Business Travel lead by example as a sustainable TMC. By introducing ECOsmart to its proprietary ClarityGo and MeetingsPro booking tools, users can now search and select accredited properties and make informed environmental decisions. But that’s just one of many initiatives. Clarity’s sales and account managers have undertaken ESG training sessions to equip them with the tools to discuss sustainability confidently with customers and partners, building internal knowledge and growing sustainability know-how across their community and also empowering people to be actively involved in the business’s sustainability goals. The TMC is committed to becoming a net zero business and in 2023 decided to fully re-baseline its carbon footprint with the aim of achieving verified science-based targets in 2025 alongside a revised Carbon Reduction Plan. Clarity’s events division, Brighter, also achieved an industry first ISO 20121 accreditation, demonstrating commitment to delivering sustainable events. A recent ESG Knowledge Exchange workshop for customers has led to the launch of a separate ESG Working Group, made up of customers and sustainability experts, driving further actions and it is also offering clients Sustainability Deep Dives with actionable insights to drive environmental responsibility alongside financial efficiency. Clarity is also set to launch a new consultancy arm in partnership with Greengage to provide customers with specialist advice and support on making eco-conscious business travel decisions.

Lemon Lane

Creating sustainable events is no easy task but boutique event management agency Lemon Lane is putting sustainability at the forefront of every decision. Despite being small and relatively new, it has a full-time in-house Sustainability Manager to ensure consistency and continuous improvement of ESG initiatives for its own business and those of its clients. It has created a bespoke Sustainable Event Plan which is used for every event to question, challenge and inform decision-making. Developed in collaboration with clients and suppliers, the plan is split into four areas – catering, operations, energy and travel/transport. It has also invested in TRACE, a solution that captures emissions and waste data from virtual/hybrid/live events, and provides clients with real-time impact reports. Looking ahead, it has commissioned a comprehensive sustainability review from Bulb Consultancy, to shape the agency’s ongoing sustainability strategy, and all of the Lemon Lane team have completed comprehensive training provided by Isla, a non-profit organisation focusing on a sustainable future for events. It doesn’t stop there. In 2025, Lemon Lane is expanding its focus to encompass the Social and Governance aspects of ESG, which will see the launch of a comprehensive client-facing ESG Playbook, embedding a strong DEIBA framework across operations and events, working on a clear practical pathway to reach Net Zero by 2050, designing every event using circular economy principles and and working with suppliers/partners to deliver an Ethical Procurement Framework.

Clarasight

Back in this list for the second consecutive year, New York-based Clarasight is showing its commitment to the UK/European market with the opening of an office in London and the expansion of its European team. Its latest addition is Sally Higgs, formerly with Festive Road, who has joined as Sustainability and Operations Program Manager. Globally, Clarasight now manages more than $2 billion in managed travel spend on its Carbon Planning and Cost Intelligence platform, which helps global organisations close the gap between climate-related intention and action with carbon planning and analysis software. Rather than just straight-line planning or one-size fits all policies, Clarasight empowers companies to give travel emissions the same attention as their financials. The platform brings together travel and expense related data sources, then automatically cleans and analyses that data to give clients a complete and accurate picture of carbon and costs in one place. It calculates emissions based on an organisation’s preferred methodology (DEFRA, IATA, Google TIM, etc), creates tailored dashboards allocating emissions and costs to each relevant member of the business, and delivers smart reduction opportunities. Crucially, it also provides forecasting and scenario modelling for any policy or initiative so companies can set, allocate and track carbon budgets, adjusting plans as business needs evolve. It also delivers real-time updates and actionable recommendations to drive better decision-making for each business leader or department.

PredictX

Data is key to driving more sustainable travel decisions and the tech wizards at data intelligence specialists PredictX are setting standards with their sustainability reporting solutions. Unlike other solutions, which primarily rely on TMC data, PredictX consumes data from both on- and off-channel bookings in real time from more than 200 T&E sources via pre-built connectors. Using machine learning, this data is validated, fused and enriched to give travel managers one consolidated source of clean, actionable data with unparalleled accuracy. PredictX’s Sustainability Module uses AI-powered measurement and industry-leading methodology to give corporates deep-dive insights into the real carbon impact of their entire travel programme, including performance versus goals and budgets, modal comparisons and offsets applicable. The platform can also generate forecasted emissions based on current activity to provide effective sustainable travel planning. Non-techy travel managers will be pleased to hear that the data is communicated in an understandable way, through dashboards, automated stories, AI assistants, infographics or alerts, from a global perspective all the way down to individual employees. PredictX invests 50% of its turnover each year in R&D to continuously enhance the platform. Most recently, it has launched an Internal Carbon Pricing tool to enable users to define the carbon price via an automated portal, where they can set the currency, amount and date range and map it out to travel activities, including air, hotel, and ground transportation.

easyJet

Well done to easyJet, the first airline to make it into our Sustainability Movers & Shakers since the list was launched in 2022. Its success is down to its new corporate SAF programme, developed in partnership with its corporate customers – mainly Airbus – and which is designed to stimulate demand and drive increased production of SAF in Europe while driving down the green premium. Describing it as “admin-light” the initiative sees easyJet pool demand twice a year from corporates, regardless of size, to bring down the purchasing price of SAF within Europe. So, the scheme enables SMEs as well as larger corporations to purchase SAF at a more attractive price point and register the ISCC-aligned certificates as part of their Scope 3 reporting. All SAF purchased as part of this scheme is in addition to any mandated requirements and the jet fuel and ETS (tax) are paid by easyJet, meaning companies can simultaneously help to stimulate the growth of the SAF industry while addressing their corporate air travel. As the model is based on mass balance rather than book and claim, the non-tradeable SAF certificates are aligned with SBTi guidance, including the ability to show beyond reasonable doubt that the fuel has been consumed, and are based on physical delivery to a European airport. Customers also have the option to purchase SAF for all of their bookings across their travel programme, not just for their easyJet flights. It’s still early days and easyJet says the scheme will continue to adjust if needed, based on customer feedback.

Thrust Carbon

Thrust Carbon has established itself as a frontrunner in emissions calculations and its solutions have been integrated by big names in the industry. But, it’s not resting on its laurels and has earned itself a place back in our list for 2025 thanks to some key developments in the first few months of this year. It has launched Compliance Suite, a suite of tools that turns overwhelming climate regulation into clear, actionable steps and is designed to save sustainability teams weeks of prep. It means they’re not just focusing on reporting but on actually reducing. Meanwhile, a new Spotlight feature gives travel managers the ability to cut emissions by up to 30% by providing supplier sustainability data, and with TripsAI, Thrust Carbon is pioneering the use of AI in sustainability, helping send instantaneous, personalised nudges directly to travellers’ inboxes to drive sustainable decision making. In 2024, it became the first company in business travel to certify its emissions calculations to ISO 14083, the globally recognised standard for travel emissions reporting. SAP Concur Travel alone has already delivered over 500 million ISO 14083-compliant calculations powered by Thrust Carbon.

Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)

Moving from words to action is the mantra of the GBTA’s new Acceleration Challenge. Launched last September 2024, it challenges organisations of all sizes and in all geographies to “start, advance and accelerate” the integration of practices that materially reduce their business travel emissions. The association has developed a pathway with Accenture and will track year-on-year progress by the industry, providing concrete strategies to reduce emissions across four categories: travel decisions, emissions tracking, sustainable procurement and investments in decarbonisation solutions like clean fuels and renewable energy. So far, more than 240 companies have participated in the Acceleration Challenge, representing a $14 billion in travel spent.​ The GBTA has also launched Sustainable Procurement Standards to help send a stronger, more harmonised signal for sustainable suppliers. The industry-wide, open-source standards offer a simple, concrete, universal way to evaluate the environmental and social performance of travel suppliers and enable corporate travel buyers to make procurement decisions and deliver on their sustainability objectives. The Sustainable Procurement Standards have been endorsed by key players across the value chain and already downloaded by more than 1,000 professionals. The association is also incubating a platform to scale demand for Sustainable Aviation Fuel​.