SBTi targets and meeting travel

If your company has science-based targets, business travel is part of your Scope 3 emissions, in category 6 of the GHG Protocol. Whether it sits inside your target boundary depends on the size of your footprint and the SBTi criteria you set the target under, but it is a category your company controls directly. The usual levers are fewer trips, rail instead of flights and better travel policies. Meeting location is the lever that reduces travel emissions without cancelling the meeting: choosing where to meet from the attendees' origins can mean up to 42% less CO2 and up to 35% lower travel cost.

This article explains where business travel sits in SBTi targets under the current and the new standard, how companies typically address it, why the meeting location deserves a place in your plan, and how to measure progress.

Start with what the meeting saves

Climate targets are easier to meet when the measure pays for itself. Choosing a meeting location with data does that. It shortens journeys, shifts trips from planes to trains where the geography allows it, and lowers ticket prices and travel time at the same time.

In our case study with a DAX-listed company, 219 meetings with 5,652 participants avoided about 1,170 t CO2 and saved over EUR 1M in travel spend. That is an estimate of about 0.207 t CO2 and about EUR 188 per participant. A purchasing team sees a hard saving, a sustainability team sees lower Scope 3 emissions, and the meeting still takes place.

Where business travel sits in an SBTi target

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) uses the GHG Protocol's scope 3 categories 1 to 14. Business travel is category 6. How it enters a target depends on which version of the standard applies.

Current criteria. Under the SBTi's Corporate Near-Term Criteria (opens in a new tab), companies whose scope 3 emissions are 40% or more of their total scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions must set near-term scope 3 targets that together cover at least two-thirds (67%) of scope 3 emissions. Business travel may or may not fall inside that two-thirds, depending on how large the other categories are.

Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0. The SBTi adopted a revised standard in May 2026. According to its main changes document (opens in a new tab), V2.0 replaces the fixed-percentage coverage thresholds with a significance-based approach: every scope 3 category that represents 5% or more of category 1 to 14 emissions must be covered. It allows justified exclusions only within named categories (3, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 14) where companies lack practical influence. Category 6 is not among them. Near-term scope 3 targets are required for Category A companies (large companies, and medium-sized companies from high-income countries) and optional for Category B companies.

Timing. The SBTi states on its net-zero page (opens in a new tab) that target validation under V2.0 becomes available in Q1 2027 and that the current version remains available for target setting until 31 January 2028. Companies that already have 2030 targets are encouraged to set their next targets under V2.0 from 2028.

In short: under V2.0, if business travel is 5% or more of your category 1 to 14 emissions, it belongs inside your near-term target boundary.

How companies address business travel in their targets

Most travel programmes combine several levers. None of them is new, and each has limits:

• Travel policy: rail for shorter routes, rules on travel classes, approval steps for long-haul trips.

• Fewer trips: replacing some meetings with video calls and combining trips where possible.

• Supplier data: asking airlines, rail operators and travel management companies for trip-level emissions data.

• Measurement: moving from spend-based estimates to distance-based calculations, so reductions show up in the numbers.

• Location choice: deciding where meetings and events take place based on where people travel from.

Fewer trips reduce emissions, but some meetings only work in person. Kick-offs, negotiations and team events create value that a video call cannot fully replace, a point we explore in why in-person meetings still matter. That is where location choice comes in.

Meeting location: the lever that keeps the meeting

For a meeting, the participants and the agenda are fixed. The location is often chosen by habit: headquarters, last year's venue, the organiser's home city. Yet the location decides how far everyone travels and by which mode.

Take a hypothetical meeting with 80 attendees from 6 cities. Held at headquarters, the two largest groups may need flights. Held in a city that those groups reach by direct train, most of them switch to rail, and the remaining flights get shorter. The same people meet for the same reason. Only the travel changes.

The Meeting Place Finder makes this comparison for every candidate city. It ranks them by travel cost, CO2 and travel time, compares up to three dates, and shows the travel details for every origin, so the result stays fair for every group. Three views (maximum productivity, minimum CO2, lowest ticket cost) let you see the trade-offs openly. If a location is already set, the cost and CO2 calculator, included at no extra cost, compares it with the optimal place. More on the product: Meeting Place Finder.

Measuring progress on Scope 3 travel emissions

A reduction only counts if it shows up in your inventory. These steps keep meeting travel measurable and comparable:

1. Use a distance-based method: it reflects location, mode and route, so the effect of a better location is visible. We explain the method in Scope 3 category 6: measuring the CO2 of meeting travel.

2. Keep the method stable: the same emission data and the same radiative forcing approach each year, or a documented recalculation of the base year.

3. Track meetings as a group: total CO2 of meeting travel, CO2 per attendee, and the share of meetings planned with a location analysis.

4. Compare plan and actual: the planned estimate shows the decision, the booked trips show the result.

5. Report avoided emissions separately: the difference to a benchmark location explains a decision. Your target is measured on actual emissions, which are already lower.

6. Bring purchasing in: a savings report with the chosen location against the benchmark makes the cost effect visible to the people who own the travel budget.

Our CO2 figures use atmosfair data since the end of 2020, follow the VDR standard and are aligned with the GHG Protocol, Scope 3 category 6. The additional warming effect of flights at altitude is shown. Results export to PDF and CSV. The details are on how it works.

If carbon prices are part of your planning too, read ETS2 and business travel.

FAQ

Does the SBTi require a separate target for business travel?

No. The SBTi sets rules for which scope 3 emissions a target must cover, not a separate travel target. Under V2.0, categories with 5% or more of category 1 to 14 emissions must be covered, and that can include business travel.

Which SBTi version applies to my company?

The current criteria remain available for target setting until 31 January 2028. Validation under the Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 becomes available in Q1 2027. Your sustainability team or the SBTi documentation will confirm which applies to you.

Do fewer meetings automatically mean progress?

Fewer trips reduce emissions, but they can cost collaboration. Choosing a better location reduces emissions for the meetings you do hold, without giving them up.

Can avoided emissions be counted towards an SBTi target?

Targets are measured against your actual emissions inventory. A better location appears there as lower travel emissions. The comparison with a benchmark location is useful for explaining the decision, but it is not deducted separately.

How quickly can we measure the effect of meeting location?

From the first meeting. With origins and head counts, you see the CO2 and cost of every candidate city before anyone books.

If you would like to test it, request a free trial for one of your own meetings, or book a demo and we will look at your travel targets together.