Reinforcing its commitment to sustainability, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), in partnership with British Airways, will offset the carbon emissions of the association’s Rome Global Education Conference. ACTE’s Munich conference, held in October 2007, resulted in a 674.6 tonne reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2). ACTE expects this number to be higher this year due to the large number of delegates and countries represented at the conference.

“ACTE has been leading the way to a sustainable corporate travel industry since 2004,” Richard Crum, ACTE President, said. “Being a good corporate citizen is about being responsible environmentally and also socially, and ACTE is fortunate to have the support of key Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategic partners and sponsors, such as British Airways. We’re delighted to be working with them once again to offset carbon emitted by attendees' travel to and from the conference.”

“British Airways was delighted to be associated with offsetting the emissions associated with the ACTE Global Education Conference in Rome,” commented Richard Tams, Head of UK and Global Corporate Sales, British Airways. “Offsetting from this and other conferences, along with our new offset scheme on www.ba.com, provides vital funding for clean sources of energy in developing countries and helps boost living standards in the communities they support.”

British Airways has been a carbon offset sponsor of ACTE’s global education conferences since 2006. For ACTE’s Munich conference, British Airways sponsored the totality of the carbon offsets to fund a renewable energy project in the developing world.

At the ACTE Global Education Conference in Rome, 5-7 October, a CSR session was offered: “Managing the Pain/Cost of Green.” Leading organisations such as Advito, A.T. Kearney and PricewaterhouseCoopers, discussed the green options available for a travel program, painless sourcing for green vendors, and how to integrate a corporation’s sustainable objectives into an achievable travel programme. Boyd Matson, National Geographic Television Host and Adventurer, also gave a keynote presentation on “The Challenge of Climate Change.” 

In addition, to these sessions, ACTE has committed to hosting a CSR-empowered event.  This includes choosing a venue for its "green" initiatives: using at least 25 percent post-consumer recycled materials for programs, tote bags, and lanyards, and supplying attendees with USB drives to limit the need to print session handouts and white papers.

ACTE launched its CSR Initiative in the Fall of 2004. It was the first organization in the business travel industry to recognize this key issue, and to educate members on the positive corporate/social benefits of sound CSR practices.

In the last four years, ACTE has engaged in numerous global CSR initiatives, including:
• Instituting, in 2006, an Environmental Considerations RFP document for green meetings
• Serving on the Green Meetings & Events initiative, led  by the American Society for Testing and 
  Materials (ASTM) International, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• The ACTE/KDS Survey on the impact of CSR in the business travel industry (its fourth year)
• Partnering with VCD, a major German transport and environmental organization, on its Green
  Travel Project
• Hosting carbon-low global conferences in partnership with Marriott and British Airways
• Global Symposium at the ACTE Singapore Conference in August 2008 on Mainstreaming CSR in
  Business Travel Management
• Partnering with The CarbonNeutral Company to provide a travel carbon calculator to members to
  measure their emissions
• White paper, Carbon Neutrality – An integral part of the corporate travel supply-chain, based on
   the results of an ACTE global survey
• Support of the United Nations Global Compact
• Member of the UNEP International Taskforce on Sustainable Tourism Development
• Partnering with international organizations such as International Office of Migration and MTV Exit
  Europe Foundation to end exploitation and trafficking of women and children

ACTE incorporates environmentally-friendly practices into its global conferences and throughout its regional offices, and remains committed to reducing carbon emissions at all events. Twice a year, ACTE gives its CSR Award, the first of its kind in the industry, to those business travel executives who incorporate eco-sensitive practices into their travel programs.