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Board Spolight
Sustainability at the Heart of Industry and GBTA Purpose
In this feature series, GBTA’s Board of Directors share their views on topics that matter most to members, the industry, and the way forward for business travel.Today’s guest author is Mark Cuschieri, Vice President, GBTA Board and GBTA Sustainability Leadership Council Chair.
 I’m always mindful of the importance of our GBTA Purpose in everything we do, and no different as to how we’ve started our sustainability journey – engaging many voices of business travel to build a collective future. By leveraging our community within the business travel industry to drive change we can achieve impact on a truly global scale. I know at times it feels like I’m repeating the statement, but we can only truly do this as a collective force.
Like many, we are all embarking, finding our way through this journey, one which can become complicated and one which we have to, collectively, demystify and simplify.
Nearly a year ago in Orlando, GBTA launched our Sustainability Program, the start of our Sustainability journey. Fast forward to today, and I’m thrilled with what we’ve already achieved together. We’ve formed new partnerships to guide GBTA’s efforts and priorities for collaborative and global action, released the industry’s first landmark study on the state of sustainability in the global business travel sector, launched our new toolkit, and made Sustainability front and center at Convention in San Diego. Such a huge thank you to all of our volunteers and all the GBTA team!
As we approach the coming month, I’m excited that Sustainability continues to be at the heart of our purpose, as we come together in Brussels, for our first ever Global Sustainability Summit on November 8th, focusing on Driving Action to Net Zero Business travel. Not only will it be an opportunity for us to foster new connections, we’ll also be featuring expert speakers, panelists and some frank discussions about challenges and opportunities to drive climate action in the business travel sector.
The time is NOW for sustainability to be at the top of everyone’s agenda in our industry. The world is watching business travel. We’re making climate a clear priority as we shift towards a low-carbon future. We must think and work collectively, and we’ll continue to challenge the notion that sustainability programs are just too hard to implement, too expensive or too involving, with too many competing factors. Now is the time to work together, to re-imagine and re-create a better future together for business travel, our planet and people.
Look forward to seeing you in Brussels!
Mark
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