Business Air Travel and Climate: Changing Behaviors Before, During, and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic

A research paper by the World Resources Institute (WRI) examining how the COVID-19 pandemic altered business travel behaviors and how behavioral science can be used to maintain these reductions to lower aviation emissions.

• Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the growth in air travel demand exceeded the pace of decarbonization efforts, making it difficult for organizations and individuals to reduce travel to meet the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
• COVID-19 travel restrictions served as a transformative event for the World Resources Institute (WRI), leading to significant changes in business travel behaviors, staff perceptions, and reduction commitments.
• The shift to virtual meetings at WRI resulted in 2,200 fewer flights over a 10-month period, representing a 92 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2019. This change avoided 3,000 mt CO2e in emissions, US$2.6 million in ticket costs, and 11,000 hours of staff flight time.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Business Air Travel and Climate: Changing Behaviors Before, During, and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic. https://www.wri.org/research/business-air-travel-and-climate-changing-behaviors-during-and-beyond-covid-19-pandemic

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Business Air Travel and Climate: Changing Behaviors Before, During, and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/business-air-travel-and-climate-changing-behaviors-during-and-beyond-covid-19-pandemic.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Business Air Travel and Climate: Changing Behaviors Before, During, and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic |url=https://www.wri.org/research/business-air-travel-and-climate-changing-behaviors-during-and-beyond-covid-19-pandemic |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendbusiness, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Business Air Travel and Climate: Changing Behaviors Before, During, and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/business-air-travel-and-climate-changing-behaviors-during-and-beyond-covid-19-pandemic}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }