ESG Policy.

What is Environmental Social Governance (ESG)?

ESG stands for Environmental, Social and corporate Governance, a framework used to evaluate the sustainability and ethical impact of the investment in a company or business and increasingly within global incentive travel programs, conferences and reward and recognition initiatives.

Environmental: Refers to how a company manages its impact on the natural world. This includes its carbon footprint, energy use, waste management, pollution, and any efforts towards sustainability or renewable resources.

Social: Focuses on how a company manages relationships with its employees, communities, customers, and other stakeholders. It covers aspects such as work practices, diversity, inclusion, human rights, community engagement, and product safety.

Governance: Looks at the internal systems and structures that guide a company. This involves examining board diversity, executive pay, shareholder rights, transparency, and overall corporate governance practices.

Firstly, it must be acknowledged there is no legal or universal framework for ESG metrics or indeed reporting, leading to inconsistency and difficulty in comparing performances across companies or industries. However, ESG values must today embody a company’s business strategy, core values, mission statement and corporate social responsibility.

The following considerations have enabled The Incentive House to help organisations successfully integrate ESG goals into both new and existing business strategies regarding global travel activities.

Let’s consider the following opportunities where The Incentive House may help with a company’s ESG strategy: 

Environmental

By integrating the following aspects into your travel strategies, companies may significantly improve their ESG performance while fostering a more sustainable approach to business travel.

1. Action addressing flights will have the most notable impact on ESG factors.

   • Sustainable Transport. The consideration of alternative sustainable transportation: Encouraging the use of more eco-friendly modes of travel, such as trains or electric vehicles where possible. We have already successfully transitioned one of our client’s conference and incentive programmes from air to train travel. 

   • Carbon Emissions from flights contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, particularly CO2. Long-haul flights especially have a substantial carbon footprint per passenger. The good news is an increasing number of airlines are introducing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), a proven replacement for fossil aviation fuel. The aviation industry is heavily investing in the transition to lower carbon operations and the discussions around improving ESG carbon emissions has never been stronger. 

2. Reducing Carbon. The most simple and sustainable solution remains the planting of trees to capture carbon. Or by offsetting emissions through initiatives such as carbon credits or investing in renewable projects. Carbon Neutral - or Net Zero Carbon - is a term used to describe the state of an entity (such as a company, service, product or event), where the carbon emissions caused by them have been balanced out by funding an equivalent amount of carbon savings elsewhere in the world.

   These savings are generated through helping to fund renewable energy projects and energy efficiency projects, many of which bring additional social and community benefits in developing countries as well as reducing greenhouse gas. We partner with recognised organisations in the UK and Europe to plant thousands of trees on behalf of clients to deliver sustainable carbon neutral or net zero carbon events.

3. Energy efficient accommodation. We are able to partner with and promote Certified Eco-friendly hotels and restaurants with strong environmental credentials (LEED-certified and Green Key, to name just two).

4. Reducing Resource Consumption: Encouraging practices such as linen reuse programs, energy-efficient facilities, and waste reduction in hotels and restaurants may be integrated into a company’s travel objectives.

Social

1. Support Local Communities: Engaging in community-based tourism, supporting local heritage, businesses, and respecting cultural and social values in the destinations we visit. We are proud to have partnered with local communities under a Charity Give Back Program where clients contribute time and finances to work with homeless charities, children from disadvantaged families and children in hospital (our teddy-bear-making workshop, created in a hotel suite in Switzerland, being an all-time high!). In addition to physical actions, we have assisted our clients in making significant financial donations to their chosen (often local to the event destination) charities.

2. Community Engagement: Facilitating interactions between travellers and local            communities, promoting cultural understanding, and supporting local businesses. We have considerable experience embedding and supporting programmes for our clients, including the provision of IT hardware and education for schools in East Africa and Morocco and school-building programmes in the UK and overseas.  

3. Employee Well-Being: Prioritising employee health and safety during travel, activities, and events. Remember to consider individual sensitivity regarding mobility, morbidity, health condition, age, religious beliefs, pregnancy and breast feeding among others.

4. Diversity and Inclusion: Ensuring fair treatment, opportunities, and representation for diverse employees within the company's travel policies and practices.

5. Digital Solutions for Sustainable Travel: Developing platforms or apps that help travellers make eco-conscious choices, access sustainable options, and track their environmental impact.

Governance

1. Advocating for Change: The first principle of ESG is to be an advocate for change. Using The Incentive House industry knowledge to provide an insight which enables clients to consider, influence and advocate for policies that support sustainable travel practices at local and global levels.

2. Transparent Policies: Implementing clear and transparent travel policies that align with sustainability goals and ESG principles.

3. Ethical Partnerships: Collaborating with travel and accommodation providers that uphold similar ESG values and practices.

4. Compliance and Ethics: Ensuring compliance with local laws and regulations while maintaining ethical business practices in all travel-related activities.

5. Raising Awareness: Educating both travellers and corporate clients about the environmental and social impact of travel and ways to minimize negative effects.

And finally…………….

By actively engaging with our clients, offering sustainable travel options, advocating for change, and providing guidance on aligning travel practices with ESG objectives, we believe The Incentive House can play a crucial role in advancing sustainable and responsible business travel.

TIH