Companies will soon be able to receive a report from their business travel agencies showing the greenhouse gas emissions caused by flights taken by their employees.

Sabre Travel Network, which provides the airline reservation technology used by most of Britain’s leading business travel agencies, has developed software to produce reports detailing the levels of carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons and other greenhouse gases generated by a company’s air travel.

Each report is divided into four sections detailing the number of air segments booked over a given period, the distance flown, the relative amount of fuel burned expressed in kilograms and litres, the relative number of kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced as a result, and a break-down of the other greenhouse gases produced. The reports can be prepared by department, cost-centre, flight type or date and will allow companies to take action to offset the impact of their business travellers, by reforestation schemes or measures to reduce emissions in other parts of their businesses.

The reporting software is aimed at the increasing number of companies who are taking an interest in corporate and social responsibility (CSR). The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) says there is a growing trend among companies to do business with other firms committed to being good neighbours through similar corporate CSR policies. "The time is coming when corporate social responsibility will be a prerequisite for conducting business locally and globally," says ACTE president Greeley Koch.