O P INIO N around 100 cardboard cartons with a carbon footprint of some 50kg. If we multiply that up by the 30,000 shipments Sterling Lexicon manages in a year, we reach a total of 1,500 tonnes CO2e. If just a quarter of the cartons we use in each shipment have been used before, we can reach an annual CO2e saving of 375 tonnes. Imagine the size of the reduction if every provider bought into the programme industry-wide. Corporate mobility departments should consider if transferees renting or buying new home furniture and appliances really does have a lower carbon cost than shipping their own An alternative is to adapt an existing relocation service to encourage behaviour change. Settlingin programmes have historically remained flexible to meet the interests and needs of the assignee, with a few notable location exceptions, where onerous administrative regulatory tasks soak up a lot of the time allocation. Some innovative organisations have taken a more prescriptive approach to the settling-in agenda to ensure that the assignee and their family are given detailed information relating to sustainability. This might include: providing detailed information about what items can be recycled at home and which need to be taken to a recycling centre; information on recycling symbols; cycle hire; public transport routes; car share schemes, and so on. What is your provider doing to help? Over time, procuring relocation services has become a more complex process due, in part, to the greater demand organisations place on their suppliers to support them in meeting sustainability targets. Sterling Lexicon forms part of the vanguard of relocation services companies looking to make a positive change within our industry. EcoVadis offers accreditation to organisations such as Sterling Lexicon, which is taking proactive steps towards sustainable practices. We are leading discussions on industry-wide schemes to re-use packing cartons, measure the impact, and certify this to our customers and clients. We estimate the average shipment uses About the author As Account Director at Sterling Lexicon, Stuart Jackson focuses on working with clients to optimise their global mobility solutions. He has worked in global mobility for 23 years. His broad experience of working with different programme sizes across a variety of industry sectors helps to bring success to clients programmes and wider business strategies. If you would like to discuss any of the points raised in this article or learn more about Sterling Lexicon, contact him at stuart.jackson@sterlinglexicon.com 68 Can we really measure the carbon impact of our programme to make informed decisions about policy changes? We are starting to see tools to measure the carbon footprint of an international assignment. Having the data can support organisations to make more informed decisions about the most effective use of workforce deployment. The test for such tools will undoubtedly be their effectiveness or even transparency in measuring all parts of the relocation or assignment process. For example, engaging with an RMC, immigration provider, tax provider, and so on, all generates a carbon footprint, as their staff commute to an office, send and receive emails, and use data centres to store information. However, this incremental carbon creation needs to be set in the much broader context of the carbon footprint of an international assignment. Air travel is by far the most carbon intensive activity any mobile workforce undertakes and the extent to which global mobility can influence the volume of travel and mode of transport will have a disproportionately high impact on the carbon footprint of the organisation. Global mobility can play a significant role in educating the business on the carbon impact of its activity and providing guidance on ways to minimise it. Unquestionably, the business and global mobility will at different points need to take tough decisions where the business requirement, employee experience and sustainability come into direct confrontation. For example, commuter assignments and hybrid short-term assignments need to be assessed for their carbon impact. Supporting the business in understanding the innate carbon consequences of its activities and providing solutions to minimise impact is a mantle global mobility must continue to grasp. Mobility has proven that it can be agile and flexible recently, but the climate crisis presents an opportunity for it to be daring and visionary. Dare it set an annual mobility carbon budget and still act as an enabler to the business? The starting point, inevitably, is to start adopting an evidence-based approach to assessing the sustainability credentials of a global mobility programme. l An extended version of this article can be found on fidifocus.org