How to encourage sustainable behavior through your mobility policy

Increasing awareness around sustainability is increasing pressure on organizations to take concrete steps toward a greener future. Mobility plays a crucial role in this. How can you contribute to this transition through your mobility policy? Which government initiatives can support you in this? And how do you encourage employees to behave more sustainably? We help you on your way.

Initiatives to measure and improve sustainability

Environmental, Social and Governance & Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (ESG & CSRD): Uniform reporting standard on environmental, social and governance topics. Mandatory for listed companies and large organizations.
Registratieverplichting Werkgebonden Personenmobiliteit (WPM): Dutch legislation to register kilometers and possibly set a CO2 standard due to The Climate Agreement. Mandatory for all companies with more than 100 employees in the Netherlands.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): The United Nations created the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. The 17 SDGs represent a global call to action to protect the planet, end poverty and ensure that all people experience peace and prosperity. Voluntary for organizations that want to get started on sustainability in its broadest sense.
Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi): Science-based targets to keep CO2 emissions within Paris Agreement standards. Voluntary for any organization that wants to get started with CO2 reduction.

The growing pressure to become more sustainable comes from several directions. The government is playing a major role in this by introducing stricter guidelines, especially for large organizations. The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is an example of this, requiring organizations to report in detail on their ecological and social risks. In addition to government directives, pressure is also growing from consumers, investors and (new) employees who are becoming more environmentally conscious.

The role of mobility

Mobility is one of the largest contributors to carbon emissions at organizations. In non-manufacturing companies, work-related mobility can even be the largest source of emissions. Therefore, it makes sense to look at more sustainable forms of transportation or reducing the number of travel movements. The Dutch Registration Obligation Work-related Passenger Mobility (WPM) requires companies with more than 100 employees to monitor their mobility emissions as a way to gain insight into their social and environmental impact.

Understanding travel behavior and emissions

The first step in reducing your emissions is to find out exactly what causes them. To gain insight, it is important to register as many employee trips as possible. Usually long trips by car or public transport are registered, but short distances by bicycle or walking are not. This is unfortunate because there is a good chance that the government will set a standard on the average CO2 emissions of an organization per kilometer. For walking and cycling, the emissions per kilometer are 0. If these kilometers are recorded, this lowers your average emissions. This can also be about part of the trip, for example biking to the train station or walking to the bus stop.

Ways to reduce CO2 emissions

Once you have insight into the emissions from your employees' travel behavior, you can look at how they can be reduced. This is different for each organization. It is important to look closely at the current and desired behavior of employees. To avoid missing the mark, it is important to conduct behavioral research. This way you can introduce appropriate measures.

Want to know more about behavioral change?

Change expert Annemarie Mars gave a blazing speech on behavioral change at the NS Zakelijk relationship event in 2024. The common thread was “How do you get them out of the car and onto the train?”. In this article you can read the key insights from her talk.

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Five examples of appropriate measures

Replace your fleet: Replacing gasoline and diesel vehicles for electric or hybrid options can contribute significantly to reducing company emissions.
Work from home more often: Hybrid working reduces the need to travel. Not only does this save you a lot of emissions, you also create a more flexible work culture.
Entice car owners with test drives: Organizing test drives can help colleagues make the switch to electric cars.
Integrate sustainability into your strategy: Integrating sustainability into the organization's strategic goals makes it a responsibility of everyone, not just one department. Transparent communication about these goals promotes ownership and employee engagement.
Work on a sustainable culture: Create a culture in which sustainability is central. This can be done by involving employees in sustainability initiatives and by making sustainability part of feedback and evaluation cycles.

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