In this three-part series, ExpatRide and Aires will explore the impact of sustainability on the relocation and global mobility industry, how to leverage change in your program to drive sustainability changes and mindset, and finally what actionable steps you can take to implement sustainable practices in your mobility program.
Part 1: Sustainable Relocation Practices: Understanding the Inital Impact
In an increasingly globalized world, the mobility of people across borders for work, education, and personal reasons has become commonplace. However, this movement, often involving long-distance travel and the transportation of goods, has a significant environmental impact. Global mobility programs may not seem as though they have a major carbon footprint, but looking at the individual components of a relocation paints a different picture. As we become more conscious of our ecological footprint, it’s crucial to explore sustainable relocation practices that can help reduce the environmental impact of global mobility.
This trilogy of articles, a collaboration between Aires and ExpatRide, will delve into the environmental impact of relocation and explore the potential of the global mobility industry. In fact, we will show you how relocating employees can actually be more sustainable than not doing so at all.
In this first article, we’ll set the scene by looking at the environmental effects of relocating individuals. In the second article will delve into how the relocation can actually be leveraged for sustainability. The third article will take a practical approach, offering insights on how we can utilize this possibility we are presented with and make relocation assignments more sustainable. What ties all three articles together is a holistic view of relocation — one that looks beyond the initial move and focuses on the whole assignment.
Intrigued? So are we. Let’s take a look at where the industry stands today, and where it’s headed.
A Holistic Approach to Sustainable Relocation
When we think about sustainable relocation – the words themselves seem like an oxymoron. How can moving employees across the world be good for the environment? The relocation industry tends to view the relocation as a single event – the move itself. But what if this perspective limits our thinking and opportunities? Relocation isn’t just about the initial move; it’s about the entire assignment – from the moment the decision of relocation is made until the employee returns home. Viewing relocation through this perspective offers a lot of potential for the Global Mobility industry, as it allows us to view relocation holistically and identify meaningful opportunities for sustainability – that extend far beyond the initial move. Small changes throughout the assignment, such as greener housing options and recycling, are just a few of the many ways to promote sustainability. Even small steps like these can add up to create a significant positive impact." When done right, with the necessary support system, could relocating employees be better for the environment than leaving them in one place?
Understanding the Initial Environmental Impact
The process of relocating, whether it’s an individual moving to a new country or a company transferring employees, drives economic growth but also contributes significantly to carbon emissions. These emissions stem from travel, shipping, transportation, and the production of moving materials, making the relocation industry responsible for millions of metric tons of CO2 each year[i]. While looking beyond the initial move offers a lot of possibilities for sustainability, it’s still essential to consider these first steps, as they are essential for making relocation possible.
Relocation begins with two major contributors to carbon emissions: travel and shipping. Air travel is a major contributor to carbon emissions, and often, relocation involves multiple long-haul flights for individuals and their families, because of pre-move visits and the move itself. Shipping of household goods can have a substantial carbon footprint, depending on the method of shipment, with air freight being the most emissions-intensive and ocean freight a better, although slower alternative[ii].
The environmental impact of transportation is immense. In 2022, land, air and sea transport generated 8 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions, making transportation the second-largest source of emissions worldwide and responsible for 14% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that year[iii]. Of this share, international aviation accounted for approximately 6% and international shipping - including medium-weight and heavy-weight vehicles - accounted for 35%.
Reducing the carbon footprint of transportation—whether by plane, boat, or truck—remains a major challenge for the corporate relocation industry. While shipping methods are essential to the relocation process, their environmental impact is significant. There are of course efforts to reduce the impact, such as carbon offsetting programs and encouraging travel alternatives, such as rail travel or greener modes of transportation. Similarly, organizations can choose eco-friendly shipping practices, fuel-efficient carriers, use sustainable packaging, and encourage assignees to be mindful of what they choose to ship.
While these initiatives are important steps toward sustainability and deserve recognition, they only scratch the surface of what’s possible. The global mobility industry has the potential—and the responsibility—to do much more.
Beyond the Move
Once the assignees arrive in their new location, their environmental impact doesn’t stop—it shifts. Throughout the assignment, there are three key areas, where we as your relocation partner, together with the assignee, can create a significant impact: housing, transportation and consumption. By partnering with suppliers dedicated to sustainable practices, we can maximize our positive impact.
The construction and maintenance of housing have significant environmental implications, energy consumption accounts for a significant percentage of global carbon emissions, and newly constructed housing developments can contribute to habitat destruction. Transportation choices are equally impactful. Daily commutes -often by car - can contribute to high carbon emissions, traffic congestion, and air pollution, which affect both local ecosystems and climate health. Over the course of an assignment, these impacts add up. This is where global mobility providers have a powerful opportunity to drive change. To mitigate this impact, companies can prioritize accommodation in energy-efficient buildings that meet sustainability certifications, which is what we, as your relocation partner, can help to provide. The potential impact of energy-efficient housing is significant. Simple upgrades such as energy-efficient appliances, LED lighting, smart heating systems, and better insulation can reduce energy consumption by an estimated 10–30% annually—a meaningful step toward a more sustainable assignment.
Just as with housing, transportation choices during an assignment offer significant potential for reducing environmental impact. Companies can promote sustainable transport by encouraging public transit, biking, or even walking. In some areas, where car travel is essential, electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids produce signficantly lower emissions compared to traditional gasoline or diesel cars.
To illustrate how impactful these choices can be, let’s look at an example[iv]—one that highlights ExpatRide’s expertise:
If a person relocates from New Orleans to Birmingham, UK, with his household goods in a 40-foot container, this will approximately produce 4.1 tons of CO2. If they choose to drive a gasoline car, and they drive an average of 12,000 miles annually with an average fuel consumption of 29.4 miles per gallon, it will emit 7.5 tons of CO2. If they instead switched to an electric car, driving the same distance with an average consumption of 17kWh / 62 miles, it would cut the emissions by 5.8 tons of CO2, which is more than the initial move with the 40-foot container emitted!
This example highlights a key opportunity: Embracing more sustainable alternatives can greatly reduce the environmental impact of relocation.
The examples we've explored—aviation, shipping, housing, and transportation—highlight some of the most significant contributors to the carbon footprint of a relocation. While some of the areas are more challenging to address than others, such as international air travel, it is important that you partner with an RMC that makes sustainable choices more accessible for assignees, because this is where there is a big opportunity to drive change.
In fact, a major opportunity for reducing emissions lies in the everyday choices assignees make – how they commute, what they consume, their waste management. These seemingly small everyday choices accumulate, and their cumulative impact can exceed that of the relocation itself – in a positive way. Addressing these “low hanging” opportunities throughout the assignment can lead to meaningful reductions in emissions and make sustainability an integral part of Global Mobility. Achieving this requires active participation from the entire industry. By providing the right support, incentives, and infrastructure, we can empower individuals to adopt more sustainable habits -making sustainability an integral part of the Global Mobility industry.
Ultimately, this is about embracing a holistic perspective—one that considers the entire assignment, not just the move. With relatively small adjustments, both companies and assignees can have a significant impact. Rather than focusing solely on the initial environmental cost, the conversation should shift toward the potential of the global mobility industry to create lasting sustainable change. This not only has the potential to reduce emissions and support companies in achieving their ESG goals but also to pave the way for long-term sustainability in the Global Mobility industry.
By understanding the full impact of global mobility and implementing more sustainable practices, individuals and organizations can contribute to a more eco-friendly future while still enabling the seamless movement of talent worldwide. In the next articles, we’ll explore how to turn this understanding into action —why relocation presents the perfect opportunity to change behaviors—and provide practical steps for implementing these changes.
This article is based on ExpatRide’s White Paper Driving Sustainability: The Case for Eco-Conscious Assignments in Global Mobility, which explores the big potential the global mobility industry has in contributing to a more sustainable future.
[i] ExpatRide. (2024). Whitepaper 1.0: Driving sustainability: The case for eco-conscious assignments in global mobility. (p. 7).
[ii] Karunakaran, S. (2024). A comparative study on sea and air freight transportation with reference to Parseray Logistics Private Limited. XXVIII, 170–177.
[iii] Statista, 2024. Transportation emissions worldwide - statistics & facts. https://www.statista.com/topics/7476/transportation-emissions-worldwide/#topicOverview
[iv] ExpatRide. (2024). Whitepaper 1.0: Driving sustainability: The case for eco-conscious assignments in global mobility (pp. 24-25).