Navan’s strategic sustainability alliances

Reaching sustainability goals requires a team effort, whether those goals are company-wide or global. That’s certainly true at Navan, where our sustainability policy relies on strategic collaboration. By teaming up with industry experts and innovators like Neste, the world’s leading producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and SQUAKE, a climate tech startup, Navan is driving impactful change as we work toward a more sustainable future. 

As a complement to Navan’s sustainability features that aid companies in tracking and reducing emissions, let’s look at how these partnerships shape the landscape of sustainability efforts.

A promising alternative to jet fuel

In September 2021, Navan announced the first-of-its-kind and only wholesale partnership with Neste. This agreement marked the first time that a business travel solution provided customers with the option to purchase SAF at scale, to help reduce the environmental impact of business travel.

SAF is considered one of the most promising lower-emission alternatives to fossil fuels. Direct purchase of SAF from a fuel producer or an airline can help corporate customers meet emissions targets for business travel.

Our partnership represents an essential step forward. Neste Sustainable Aviation Fuel, derived from food waste and residual materials, decreases greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% compared to fossil jet fuel. An end-to-end, third-party verification process overseen by external auditors fortifies the fuel’s integrity and ensures the highest standards of quality and accountability. 

Navan is proud to help increase the availability of SAF to our customers to support their environmental targets.

It’s an important partnership in the U.S. as well as Europe. With the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) obliging many European companies to disclose their carbon emissions on a yearly basis, organisations must have access to real-time insights regarding the carbon impact of their travel programme. 

Also, beginning in 2025, the “ReFuel EU” legislation will mandate that fuel uplift at EU airports for flights originating in the EU contains at least 2% SAF — with the percentage increasing each year. 

“The Navan and Neste partnership seeks to revolutionise the industry by driving widespread adoption of sustainable aviation fuel as a key lever to reduce aviation-related emissions,” said Susanne Bouma, Head of Customer Experience & Offering at Neste. 

“Leveraging Navan’s leadership in the business travel sector, Neste views Navan as an ideal partner to encourage business travellers to start including sustainable aviation fuel in their travel activities and take responsibility to reduce their aviation-related emissions.” 

Navan Compensate: access to high-quality carbon credits

Another key partnership for Navan Group is with SQUAKE. In this instance, Navan powers that organisation’s comprehensive compensation service Navan Compensate, through which customers gain access to high-quality carbon credits via a meticulously crafted process, including: 

• Rigorous selection criteria, such as the ICROA (International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance) principles 
• Respective co-benefits deriving from carbon projects 
• Evaluations conducted by third-party rating agencies

“Navan is empowering businesses in the business travel industry to offer visibility over their CO2 emissions and innovative ways to act on them to reach climate targets,” said Philipp von Lamezan, CEO and co-founder of SQUAKE. “The partnership between Navan and SQUAKE enables customers to mitigate unavoidable emissions via high-quality, certified carbon projects.” 

Navan Compensate allows customers to contribute to meaningful environmental initiatives and offset unavoidable emissions, working in partnership with SQUAKE to simplify and add rigour to the process of purchasing carbon credits.

These partnerships underscore Navan’s commitment to sustainability and offer tangible solutions for businesses to reduce their carbon footprint. Together, we are shaping a more sustainable future for generations to come.

To learn more about what your company can do to help the environment, download the guide 5 steps to building a more sustainable T&E programme.