How can I reduce emissions from my employees' commutes?

📌 Key Points

• To reduce emissions related to your employees’ travel, the key strategy is an employer mobility plan: a coherent set of measures that address commutes and business travel.
• After conducting a GHG assessment, commuting often emerges as one of the top sources of emissions: in a company with 1,000 employees, commutes alone can account for several hundred metric tons of CO₂ per year.
• There are three main approaches: promoting sustainable transportation (biking, carpooling, public transit), reducing travel at the source (working from home, videoconferencing), and decarbonizing the vehicle fleet.
• The sustainable mobility allowance provides funding for these alternatives up to €600 per year per employee, exempt from social security contributions (€900 if combined with a public transportation pass).
• Platforms such as Decarbo’Solution® link GHG assessments to mobility assessments to identify the most cost-effective actions and track their impact over time.

The short answer

To reduce emissions related to your employees’ commutes, the most effective approach is to develop an employer mobility plan based on the results of your GHG assessment. This plan combines three types of actions: promoting fuel-efficient modes of transportation, reducing the number of trips, and making vehicles more environmentally friendly. The challenge is not to multiply isolated initiatives, but to use the assessment results to focus efforts where emissions—and costs—are highest.

📗 Definition

An Employer Mobility Plan (PDM-e, formerly known as a Corporate Travel Plan) is a program of initiatives designed to optimize travel related to an organization’s operations: employees’ commutes, business travel, deliveries, and visits. Its goal is to reduce private car use, greenhouse gas emissions, and associated costs, while improving travel conditions for employees.

Why Travel Has Such a Big Impact After a GHG Assessment

Once a GHG assessment has been completed, many executives discover that transportation is one of their top sources of emissions. This makes sense: every employee who drives to work in a gasoline-powered car, and every business trip taken by plane or company vehicle, contributes to the company’s carbon footprint.

In carbon accounting, travel falls into two broad categories. Commutes fall under indirect emissions related to passenger transportation. Business travel (client meetings, business trips, trade shows) is included as well. Together, they fall under Scope 3, the indirect emissions category that typically accounts for 50 to 90 percent of an organization’s total carbon footprint.

💜 Did you know?

In a company with 1,000 employees, commutes alone can generate several hundred metric tons of CO₂ per year, depending on the modes of transportation used and the distances traveled. This is an area that is rarely managed, even though it often accounts for more emissions than office energy consumption.

From Measurement to Action

The GHG assessment provides a snapshot; it does not, on its own, reduce emissions. This is precisely why mobility is a priority area for action: the data exists, the levers for change are known, and the benefits are both environmental and financial. Reducing travel not only cuts emissions but also lowers expense reports, mileage allowances, and exposure to rising fuel prices.

What is an employer mobility plan?

The employer mobility plan is the key framework for taking action. It is not a one-time measure, but rather an action plan that is negotiated, monitored, and evaluated over time.

A requirement for companies with 50 employees

The 2019 Framework Law on Mobility (LOM), supplemented by its 2020 implementing decree, provides the legal framework for this initiative.

⚠️ Warning

For any company with at least 50 employees at a single site, the issue of employee mobility must be addressed as part of the mandatory annual negotiations (NAO). If no agreement is reached, the employer must develop an employer mobility plan. Failing to do so exposes the company to social and regulatory risks, in addition to overlooking an obvious opportunity for cost savings.

What Makes a Good Deal

An effective employer mobility plan is based on an analysis of actual travel patterns and then outlines concrete measures. It generally covers:

🚲 The components of a mobility plan:

• an analysis of commutes (origins, distances, modes of transportation used);
• incentives for sustainable transportation (cycling, walking, carpooling);
• public transportation subsidies and the sustainable mobility allowance;
• the organization of remote work and flexible scheduling;
• the gradual decarbonization of the vehicle fleet;
• tracking results year after year.

The Key Elements of an Effective Employer Mobility Plan

Not all measures have the same impact or the same cost. The table below summarizes the main actions and the mechanisms that support them.

Promote active transportation and the sustainable transportation pass

The first strategy is to make alternatives to private cars more attractive. The sustainable mobility allowance is the key tool: it allows employers to cover all or part of the costs of commuting by bike, carpool, or shared transportation.

💜 Did you know?

In 2026, the sustainable mobility allowance can reach €600 per year per employee in the private sector, exempt from social security contributions and taxes. This amount rises to €900 when combined with coverage for a public transportation pass. It is an optional program, but one with significant leverage: it directly funds emissions reductions.

Reduce travel at the source

The trip that produces the fewest emissions is the one you don’t take. When telework is compatible with the job, it automatically eliminates commutes. Similarly,replacing some long-distance business travel with videoconferencing directly reduces the highest-emission modes of transportation, particularly air travel.

🌱 Three habits to reduce your commute:

• formalize a clear and consistent telework policy;
• evaluate each long-distance business trip based on its actual necessity;
• Give priority to trains over planes on routes where an alternative exists.

Decarbonizing the Fleet and Business Travel

For vehicles that remain essential, the gradual transition of the fleet toward electric or hybrid vehicles reduces emissions from business travel. The LOM also mandates an increasing quota of low-emission vehicles when large companies renew their fleets.

From Diagnosis to Management: Measure to Reduce

An employer mobility plan is only as good as its ability to identify the right actions and measure their impact. And what cannot be measured cannot be managed.

It all starts with a reliable data foundation. The Decarbo’Inventory® module enables organizations to conduct a GHG assessment and precisely identify the contribution of travel to their overall carbon footprint. Building on this foundation, a dedicated mobility assessment—powered by the Decarbo’Mobility®module —maps commutes, identifies areas where a modal shift is possible, and quantifies the reduction potential for each lever.

Next comes the roadmap: the Decarbo’Target® module helps set time-bound reduction targets and track, year after year, the impact of the measures implemented. The idea is not to pile on tools, but to build on a single data foundation—from the assessment all the way to the action plan.

📗 Definition

Modal shift refers to the transfer of a portion of travel from one mode of transportation to another that produces fewer emissions: from private cars to bicycles, carpooling, or public transportation. It is the key indicator of a successful employer mobility plan.

Use Case. A service company with 500 employees discovers, following its GHG assessment, that commuting is its largest source of emissions. Its mobility assessment reveals that 40% of employees live less than five kilometers from the site. By implementing a sustainable mobility allowance, secure bike parking spaces, and two days of remote work per week, the company significantly reduces its travel-related emissions—while also lowering its parking costs and improving employee satisfaction.

📊 From constraint to opportunity: A well-designed mobility plan reduces emissions, lowers commuting costs, meets the LOM requirement, and strengthens the employer brand. It’s a win-win: less impact on the planet and tangible benefits for both the company and its employees.

Reducing emissions related to your employees’ commutes is neither an abstract issue nor a purely regulatory requirement. Following a GHG assessment, mobility almost always emerges as a major expense category—and one of the most actionable. The employer mobility plan is the tool for this: it transforms a requirement under the LOM into a program that delivers savings and enhances your company’s appeal.

The approach remains the same at every stage: first, conduct a thorough GHG assessment; next, identify the most cost-effective measures (sustainable transportation, remote work, a low-carbon vehicle fleet); and finally, monitor the results over time. The sustainable transportation allowance and coverage of public transportation costs provide the means to finance this transition.

That is precisely what Decarbo’Solution® offers: a suite that links GHG assessments to mobility assessments and reduction targets, all based on a single data foundation. From Decarbo’Inventory® to Decarbo’Mobility® and Decarbo’Target®, each module helps companies turn their travel into a driver of performance.

FAQ

Is the employer mobility plan mandatory?

Employee mobility must be addressed in the mandatory annual negotiations for any company with at least 50 employees at a single site (Mobility Framework Act). If no agreement is reached, the employer must develop an employer mobility plan.

Which travel destination generates the most emissions?

It depends on the company’s profile. For many organizations, it’s commuting by private car; for others, it’s business travel by plane. Only a GHG assessment can determine this precisely.

How much does the sustainable mobility package cost the employer?

It is optional, and the amount is set by the company, up to a limit of €600 per year per employee, which is tax-exempt in 2026 (€900 if combined with a public transportation pass). It is a tax-deductible expense that should be weighed against the resulting savings on commuting costs.

Does working from home really reduce emissions?

Yes, by eliminating commutes. The net effect, however, depends on energy consumption at home and any resulting travel; it must therefore be measured, not assumed.

Which Decarbo’Solution® module should I start with?

First, Decarbo’Inventory® to measure the impact of travel, then Decarbo’Mobility® to analyze trips, and finally Decarbo’Target® to set and track the reduction path.