Since launching the Sustainability Network Group (SNG) last July, we’ve been loving the insights and conversations emerging from each session. The group was created to encourage discussions, share challenges and build an inclusive space where customers can learn from one another. Each session gives organisations the chance to hear what others are focusing on, where they’re struggling, and what successes they’re achieving.
In our most recent session, the main discussion topic centred on carbon budgeting, along with what we learned from our customer conference held at the end of November last year.
Introduced by Darren Williams, our Director of MI & Data, the discussion explored the conceptual design, user needs, data challenges and potential behavioural impacts.
Carbon budgeting: Purpose and concept
The concept of carbon budgeting is to set an allowance for your business of how much carbon you plan to utilise over the course of a certain period of time whether that’s a month, calendar year, academic year, etc. However it works best for you. The overarching goal is to create actionable insight - pushing travellers to think about how their trip will impact that ‘bucket’ of CO2, and encouraging them to consider either; lower emission travel options or to avoid travel altogether. The intent is to drive real-time behavioural change.
Data completeness challenge
A significant concern was that carbon budgets wouldn't be able to show the full picture for organisations who struggle with the ‘car gap’, where staff members use their own vehicles for travel. Losing valuable information on mileage, to and from destinations, or the car types. Several attendees stressed that car emissions form the majority of their travel footprint and that without integrating externally captured car mileage, the carbon budget would misrepresent true consumption.
“Most of our emissions are from car travel rather than flights. So, if we were only showing the Clarity aspect of our travel, we’d be missing out the biggest impact” - Sarah Thomas, Alzheimer’s Society.
This is something we’ve actively been having conversations about within the business, ”around that missing gap in terms of the scope 3 emissions” - Lone Konradsen, Head of Customer Insights. But for some customers, it really is the most desirable option, as many organisations will have staff that travel to remote areas where services such as Uber or Bolt may not be available. The feedback was clear, carbon budgeting has got to be flexible yet broad.
Carbon budgets and financial considerations
For most departments, financial decisions are a huge factor in decision-making, often taking precedent over carbon considerations. As a result, some customers argued that carbon budgets should align with departmental financial budgets, enabling double visibility of cost and carbon impact.
Helping travellers evaluate trade-offs logically (for example, business class costing more and emitting more CO2), whilst also being able to anticipate carbon consumption before travel occurs.
Overcoming resistance
Resistance to change can be overcome when it can be foreseen and neutralised in advance. Understanding the root of concerns – whether personal circumstances, workload presses, or broader issues such as inflation – is crucial. Only once these issues are acknowledged and addressed, can organisations move forward with supportive policy updates that reinforce sustainable practices.
Encouraging sustainable modal shifts
Another strong conversation point was the implementation of sustainable modal shifts. This included encouraging people to:
- Switch from car travel to public transport
- Replace flights with lower impact alternatives like trains
- Choose virtual meetings where possible
Attendees highlighted that regular updates and clear communication around the environmental and practical benefits of these shifts helped improve adoption. Behavioural data from our previous Knowledge Exchange session in mid-2025 showed clear differences between public and private sector approaches – but both shared a common challenge: convincing hearts and minds.
Sharing good practice and showcasing success stories proves helpful in showing sceptics that efficient and sustainable travel choices really are possible.
Recognising our responsibility
At Clarity, while we continue to reduce emissions within our own operations, we understand that the majority of our carbon emissions derive from our customer emissions. This is why we continually try to improve our data transparency, booking tools - ClarityGo and MeetingsPro, and the work we do to support our customers and their sustainability goals.
Conclusions
Our second Sustainability Network Group session demonstrated the importance of looking beyond carbon reporting towards meaningful action. Discussions uncovered shared challenges between customers, particularly internal resistance to change, the ‘car gap’, and the need for an emphasis on modal shift changes. Encouragingly, there was a strong consensus on the value of education, incentives and visible leadership from the top down to help influence behaviour and embed sustainable travel choices.
Overall, the session demonstrated the strength of collaboration within the network and set a clear direction for continued innovation, engagement, and progression in sustainable travel and meetings management.
