The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) marked another milestone in its journey to advance sustainability and drive impactful initiatives in the business travel industry with its announcement that Delphine Millot has joined the association in the newly created role of Senior Vice President of Sustainability.
“Sustainability is a shared priority for the business travel industry, GBTA, and business travel programs and professionals around the world. GBTA sees it as a collective effort and one that must be championed. Delphine is a very welcome and important addition to our mission, and her experience and leadership will be critical in helping bring together collaborative efforts across our membership and the industry for meaningful outcomes,” said Suzanne Neufang, CEO, GBTA.
In this new role, Millot will lead GBTA’s initiatives to create a strong industry focus and public “voice” by working together with members, policymakers and other stakeholders to chart a course toward a more sustainable future for business travel. Areas of engagement include research and insights; industry and member programs, policy and advocacy; and education and certification, as well as incubating solutions, tools, and supply chain initiatives to help travel buyers and travel suppliers put sustainability at the forefront of their travel programs and operations.
“I’m excited and honored for this role at GBTA to help shape what sustainable business travel means and position the sector at the forefront of climate action and environmental stewardship. The future state of our industry shouldn’t be one where we have to decide between connecting people via business travel and doing what’s right for the planet,” said Millot.
“This is an incredibly resilient sector and, in the spirit of creating what’s next together, the timing is right to kick-start an ambitious sustainability journey.”
Millot will work with the founding partners of GBTA’s newly created sustainability program which consists of sponsoring organizations and supporters from across the industry, as first unveiled in November at the 2021 GBTA Convention. This group is now named the GBTA Sustainability Leadership Council and currently consists of (in alphabetical order): Accor, American Airlines, American Express Global Business Travel; BCD Travel; BWH Hotel Group; Delta Air Lines; Enterprise Holdings; The Hertz Corporation; Hilton; HRS; IHG Hotels & Resorts; Marriott International; SAP Concur; Southwest Airlines; TripActions; and United Airlines.
Millot will also work with the GBTA Sustainability and Responsibility Committee which over the years has delivered sustainability tools and educational programs to GBTA members. Among the 2022 initiatives for this established global committee led by current chairperson, Jenny Sabineu, are the relaunching of an updated GBTA Sustainability Toolkit and the development of a global industry standard Supplier Scorecard.
“Sustainability is THE topic of our times. But caring about sustainability doesn’t mean giving up on travel altogether. People and economies need to travel for business – and have an environmental responsibility to do so sustainably. Delphine is a tremendous addition to GBTA’s commitment to bringing the industry together to help address this very important global issue,” said Mark Cuschieri, GBTA Board Vice President and Executive Sponsor of GBTA’s Sustainability initiative.
Cuschieri will also serve as chairperson for the GBTA Sustainability Leadership Council, and Sabineu as its vice chair.
Millot’s professional background includes experience working between private, public and non-profit sectors, both in Europe and the U.S. Most recently, she served as the head of the International Public Affairs Division for Grayling, a global consulting firm specializing in strategic communications and government affairs. Her experience includes managing a European-wide campaign for the Environmental Defense Fund to reduce methane emissions, which are responsible for at least 25% of today’s global warming. This resulted in the Global Methane Pledge adopted at COP26 in November 2021 as the single biggest political effort to date to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
In previous roles, she worked closely with senior level executives at leading multinationals in multiple business sectors, as well as with associations representing sectoral interests including business aviation, oil and gas, heating and cooling, construction equipment, aluminum, and bioenergy.
Based in New York City, Millot holds a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York, including coursework in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), corporate sustainability reporting, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. She also has a Master’s in Political Sciences from Sciences-Po in Strasbourg, France.
