A study has reported that flexible offices that allow employees to work remotely may reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 214 million tonnes a year by 2030.
Coworking operator Regus has found that continued membership growth could save over 3.53 billion hours of commute every year by 2030.
The study commissioned by Regus observed 16 countries around the world and found that a rise in flexible offices would contribute over $10 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
The report also found China and India reaping the greatest gross value add, as well as adding $376 billion a year to the Indian economy. China would save about 1.4 billion commuting hours.
The UK would save 7.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2030, due to saving 115 million hours of commute time.
Since most U.S. workers primarily use cars as transportation, it would save 100 million tons of CO2 and 960 million hours of commuting time.
By 2030, between 8% and 13% of all workers in developed economies will be connected to flexible offices.
“Simply changing the dominant culture of commuting to a central office for work could contribute towards climate change goals,” said Christos Misailidis, CEO of Asia Pacific and Middle East at IWG, Regus’ parent company.
The UN Environment Programme would need to slash greenhouse gas emissions by around 12-14 billion metric tonnes by 2030 to slow global warming down to 2 degrees Celsius.
Misailidis says that flexible working could have a huge positive impact on the planet.
