DOWN TO EARTH
EMPOWERING EMPLOYEES TO HELP US WORK TOWARD NET-ZERO EMISSIONS
SAS’ spirit of curiosity keeps us constantly searching for new ways to use analytics and AI to address the world’s biggest challenges. We’ve long been committed to fighting climate change, which is critical to the future of life on earth. So we’re starting by taking a look at the environmental impact of business travel, including our own.
AIR TRAVEL BY THE NUMBERS
First, let’s take a look at global air travel, which had accounted for 2.5% of total global emissions but drastically decreased during the pandemic in 2020.
SAS is part of a movement of leading companies turning that disruption into an opportunity to explore new ways of doing business sustainably to reduce environmental impact.
GETTING TO ZERO
SAS has a 2050 net-zero carbon emissions goal and approved science-based targets to reduce absolute emissions 25% by 2025 and 50% by 2030. Business travel accounts for more than a quarter of our total pre-pandemic direct and indirect emissions, making it a natural focus for helping us get to net-zero. That’s why we’ve developed analytic tools to help employees understand the environmental impacts of their air travel.
HITTING OUR TARGET
Reducing travel emissions 50% by 2025 (compared to the 2018 baseline level) doesn't mean reducing travel by 50%. In addition to encouraging the use of new meeting technology, we'll also be taking advantage of emerging trends – such as using airlines that offer lower-emission flights – to ensure our travel has a smaller carbon footprint than in the past. Here’s a look at where SAS emissions (CO2e in Metric Tons) were and where they’re going.
YEAR TO YEAR
Click on a year to see changes in SAS travel carbon emissions.
SELECT YEAR
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
SAS
AIR TRAVELERS
2.74
CO2e (Metric Tons)
SAS GLOBAL AIR TRAVEL SUMMARY
CO2e values shown in metric tons.
TAKE ACTION
So what can we do to achieve these goals together? As a company, SAS helps reduce travel-related carbon emissions by:
STAYING GROUNDED
If you don’t travel by plane for work, you can still estimate the impact your commute or business travel – whether by car, train or public transport – has on the environment by using the calculator below. And if you drive an electric or low-emissions vehicle – or you bike or walk – great! You’re already on the path to reducing emissions.
