Scope 3.6 - Business Travel
Why Scope 3.6 “Business Travel” Matters
Scope 3.6 captures emissions from your employees’ business trips made using external providers (like airlines, hotels, rail, taxis, rental cars).
This includes any business travel not captured in your direct fuel/energy use, highlighting the climate footprint of your meetings, customer visits, and events.
What’s Included in Scope 3.6?
- All business travel arranged or paid for by the company, using:
- Air travel
- Rail travel
- Bus and coach travel
- Rental cars and taxis
- Hotels/accommodation (optional but an emerging best practice)
- Only includes travel in vehicles not owned/operated directly by your company.
Key Principle: Any working trip taken using commercial carriers or accommodation, not your own vehicles.
Typical data points to collect:
- Mode of travel: (plane, train, car, taxi, bus, hotel stay)
- Journey origin and destination (or at least distance traveled per trip)
- Number of trips/tickets booked per category
- Class/Type of travel: (economy/business/first for flights)
- Nights spent in hotels (for accommodation footprint)
- Name of travel/accommodation provider (optional, for detailed data)
Understanding Data Quality in Scope 3.6 and Why Continuous Improvement Matters
Business travel data quality ranges from total annual travel spend to precise trip records. Best practice is to base your data on actual trip logs, travel booking systems, or expense claims—with origin/destination, frequency, and travel class for flights. If possible, obtain reports directly from travel agencies or booking providers, and ensure your team knows to capture all business travel, not just large events.
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Data Collection Steps: A Collaborative Approach
- Collect Trip Records
- Export travel activity from booking systems, HR/finance reports, and expense claims; consolidate by mode.
- Separate by Travel Type & Class
- For air: class of service and flight segment details.
- For car: distinguish rental vs. taxi, and type of vehicle if possible.
- Capture Distances/Locations
- Aim for actual distance, routes, or at least city-pair details for more accurate emissions.
- Track Accommodation
- Add number of nights and location for hotel stays, if available.
- Improve Year by Year
- Work with your travel provider or booking platform to automate future data exports and close remaining data gaps.