Airports actively address their CO2 emissions
Following the industry’s commitment to reduce its carbon emissions made seven years ago, the intervening years since then have seen a critical mass of airports taking action to lower their impact on climate change through their participation in Airport Carbon Accreditation – the global carbon management standard for the airport business.
The programme certifies airports at four different levels of accreditation covering all stages of carbon management (Mapping, Reduction, Optimisation and Neutrality).
It is independently administered, institutionally-endorsed and has already won praise from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the United Nation Environment Panel (UNEP) and the European Union (EU), the US FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) and many others.
As announced yesterday, 130 airports across the five continents are currently certified under Airport Carbon Accreditation. These airports welcome over 29% of global air passenger traffic.
Speaking ahead of the COP21 climate negotiations - which are due to start in November in Paris - EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete, praised the airport industry’s engagement in curbing carbon emissions: “It is reassuring to see an industry as visible and strategically relevant as the airport industry proactively addressing its carbon emissions. By allowing airports to work their way through four levels of certification, Airport Carbon Accreditation bridges their individual efforts and their collective achievement as an industry. With airports playing host to so many other companies, the past six years have shown that the programme is also having a halo effect on them, as airlines, air traffic controllers, retailers, passengers and surface transport also get involved to lower their CO2 emissions on the airport site. I congratulate ACI on the momentum they have achieved with this - bringing an industry-led climate change initiative which began here in Europe all the way to becoming the global standard.”