Uber for Business debuts sustainability insights feature for corporate clients

21 September, 2022

Uber says it believes transparency is at the heart of driving action on reducing corporate emissions and tackling climate change and has been behind the launch of a new sustainability insights feature on Uber for Business which provides corporate clients with a clear picture of their ground travel emissions.  

Through the new platform organisations can access metrics such as total carbon emissions and the percentage of corporate travel trips taken on low emission alternatives, including Uber Green, Comfort Electric and Uber Planet. These insights can help businesses better understand and report on their corporate travel carbon impact, and equip them with information to help reduce it.

Platform now allows users to track, report and act on ground transportation impacts

The sustainability insights now available through the Uber for Business dashboard include:

Total low-emission trips – provides visibility into the total number of trips taken using Uber Green, Comfort Electric, and Uber Planet, allowing Uber for Business customers to understand how often employees are opting for a green ride.

Low-emission trip percentage – displays the proportion of low-emission trips to total trips taken by the customer shows the bigger picture, allowing companies to quickly gauge how many trips align with their climate commitments.

Total emissions (kilograms CO2) – monitors the total number of carbon emissions emitted by a company across all rides used in a given timeframe with Uber.

Average grams CO2 emissions per mile – allows companies to analyse carbon emission performance based on distance travelled.

Graph of total emissions by average grams CO2 per mile – visually observe carbon emissions over time to evaluate how they are progressing toward near and long-term targets.

Organisations globally have submitted concrete plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions

According to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), more than 1,700 organizations globally have submitted concrete plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are verified by SBTi. Thousands more have also set ambitious targets to tackle their corporate emissions.

Despite this, a recent survey found only 28% say their company formally tracks their ground transportation-related sustainability initiatives and programmes, reports Uber, while another found only around 19% leverage carbon footprint/sustainability data in the travel booking process, it says.

Salesforce was among first companies to pilot Uber feature, and see results

Salesforce, the American cloud-based software company, which provides customer relationship management software and applications focused on sales, customer service, marketing automation, analytics, and application development, was among the first companies to pilot the Uber sustainability feature, and see the results.

“Climate change is the biggest, most important and most complex adventure we have ever faced,” says Patrick Flynn, SVP, global head of sustainability at Salesforce.  “To meet the speed and scale that the climate emergency demands, we need to see customers and their suppliers connecting with one another in whole new ways to take bold climate action together.”

According to Mr Flynn, the emissions data and reporting tools that Uber is making available to its customers “allows us to educate travellers on the impact of responsible travel choices, taking action into their own hands and advancing us on our net zero journey”.

World at a critical juncture, and we all have role to play

The world is at a critical juncture, and we all have a role to play. Uber, says it is aiming high, and wants to equip its corporate clients to aim high as well.

“What we heard from our corporate clients is that they wanted to be able to track, report and act on their ground transportation impacts globally. They also wanted insight into the percentage of trips taken on greener modes, in order to help educate employees on how to reduce their carbon impact,” explains Susan Anderson, global head of Uber for Business.

“As corporate travel recovers to pre-pandemic levels, we take our responsibility as one of the largest mobility platforms in the world seriously. By providing corporations with a simple, easy to use tool, we’re using our platform to help other businesses reach their own climate goals – because progress starts with transparency and accountability,” she adds.