Airports Council International (ACI) released its latest report on carbon accreditation at its 13th ACI Airport Exchange in Abu Dhabi and said airports around the world are taking the lead in boosting their green credentials. For the year from May 2018 to May 2019, 274 airports globally have been accredited at one level or another, a 16 percent increase over the previous year. Since May 2018, 14 more airports have joined the programme and became certified at one of its four levels of accreditation (Mapping, Reduction, Optimisation & Neutrality) – rounding up the total number of accredited airports to 288, ACI said. Out of these, 147 are in Europe, 53 in Asia-Pacific, 47 in North America, 27 in Latin America & the Caribbean and 14 in Africa.
Angela Gittens, director general, ACI World, said: “Airports have been hard at work to deliver tangible CO2 reductions through Airport Carbon Accreditation. It has been a decade since the launch of the programme and it keeps on growing, both in the number of airports coming on board and in the level of ambition for carbon management. In its tenth year, 49 participating airports upgraded to a more demanding level of accreditation, the highest ever reported.” She added: “From May 2018 to May 2019, accredited airports succeeded in collectively reducing the CO2 emissions under their control by 322,297 tonnes, a reduction of 4.9 percent. Additionally, the 50 airports at the highest level of Airport Carbon Accreditation contributed to a further reduction of 710,673 tonnes of CO2 in other sectors through offsets aimed at balancing out their residual emissions. Their choices in terms of offsetting were framed by our recently developed Offsetting Guidance Document, which sets new requirements and recommendations to help them procure offsets of the highest quality.”
Niclas Svenningsen, who heads the Climate Neutral Now initiative at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat commented: “Air connectivity is an essential part of modern society, enabling people, business and communities to function together for the benefit of all. However, this mobility also poses some serious challenges, in particular in terms of climate change. By continuing their sterling work to address their emissions through Airport Carbon Accreditation, airports worldwide are showing that mobility and sustainability do not necessarily imply trade-offs. In the wake of the Climate Emergency, the need for non-State climate action has never been more burning. It is encouraging to witness the airport industry’s push for ambitious carbon management from within, which this year delivered a 4.9 percent reduction in CO2 emissions under their control. There is much that other industries can learn from this and even emulate.”
Meanwhile, ACI also released a new report on autonomous vehicles. The Assessing Potential Security Threats and Risks Report, jointly developed with Arup, examines concerns related to the rise of autonomous vehicle technology. Specifically, the intent of the report is to explore the emerging security vulnerabilities and potential security risks associated with the deployment of autonomous vehicles, systems and drones by airports. It considers how airports, designers and other members of the aviation community can introduce these technologies in a more informed manner with regard to potential security impacts.
