Biden Administration Announces Plans to Accelerate Clean Transportation, GBTA Commits to Sustainable Procurement Criteria for Business Travel

GBTA and the GBTA Foundation took part in an announcement event today in Washington, D.C. where the Biden Administration unveiled new commitments to boost access to electric vehicles (EVs), save taxpayer dollars, and tackle the climate crisis, as well as new Federal employee travel guidelines on sustainable transportation use. Shane Downey, Vice President, Government and Community Relations, was on-hand representing GBTA at the invitation of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and U.S. General Services Administration.

Aligned with President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, today’s announcement outlined commitments designed to expand clean transportation options. With a goal of reaching net-zero emissions from Federal operations by 2050, the Administration also issued new Federal employee travel guidelines on the use of sustainable transportation including prioritizing electric vehicles, expanding rail travel and increasing public transit use.

As part of the announcement, the GBTA Foundation committed to releasing global Sustainable Procurement Criteria by the end of 2024. The GBTA Criteria will help pave the way to standardize responsible practices in the business travel industry and provide corporate travel managers with a harmonized approach for requesting information on suppliers’ sustainability practices.

“GBTA’s inclusion in today’s event is recognition of not only the relevance of business travel and importance of greener travel options, but also of the GBTA Foundation’s ongoing commitment to help our industry create a more sustainable way forward,” said Delphine Millot, Managing Director of the GBTA Foundation and Senior Vice President for Sustainability and Advocacy at GBTA.

A number of the Foundation’s Sustainability Partners were also included in today’s event for their new commitments to cleaner transportation including American Express Global Business Travel, Delta Air Lines, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International as well as Enterprise Mobility and Hertz.

In 2023, the GBTA Foundation’s efforts have included publishing two thought leadership reports − “Managing Emissions from Business Travel Programs” and “The State of Climate Action in Global Business Travel.” GBTA also launched a new GBTA Academy Sustainable Travel Management Course to educate and empower travel professionals to advance climate-conscious business travel programs, and organized a high-level Sustainability Summit in June in Washington, D.C. with leading experts and government figures to advocate for public and private action to drive climate action in business travel.

Click here to read full details about today’s announcement.

Visit www.gbtafoundation.org for more information about the GBTA Foundation’s mission to drive climate action, sustainability and positive change for People and the Planet.