More than two thirds of travel buyers still do not a have a green buying policy in place.

Almost a fifth of the 1,400 respondents surveyed by the Business Travel & Meetings Show stated that being green is simply “not a priority”.

And almost half said the economic climate had forced them to re-prioritise their commitment to buying environmentally responsible travel.

The survey comes as world leaders meet in Copenhagen to try and agree a plan to reduce the world’s carbon emissions with the travel sector in the spotlight as a major polluter.

David Chapple, event director, BTMS, said: “The business travel industry can no longer ignore the importance of being green.

“And though suppliers and buyers are being increasingly proactive in this area, there’s no denying they are finding it a challenge; a challenge that has been hindered somewhat by the recession. 

“However, government and indeed global legislation is pushing green firmly back up the agenda and as an industry we need to act.”

Some of the positive responses from the research include 21% of respondents stating that they are planning to introduce a green strategy and half of the 44% who have a green strategy in place intend to grow it.

BTMS, which takes place in February, is hosting a number of free educational sessions addressing critical green issues such as ‘tuning into sustainability’, ‘measuring, reducing and compensating travel related carbon emissions’, ‘reducing your carbon footprint’ and the pros and cons of video conferencing.’