Airports Council International (ACI) has released the latest figures for the European members of its Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) program. The results were announced at ACI Europe’s 26th Annual Congress in Athens, Greece, and cover the period between June 2015 and May 2016.
Olivier Jankovec, director general, ACI Europe, said, “I am delighted to see that Europe continues to lead the way, with 107 airports. These airports certified in the past year achieved a reduction of 146,118 tons of CO₂ – enough to power nearly 61,000 households for a year. We now have 22 airports that are carbon neutral (Level 4) and an additional 21 are certified for ‘Optimisation’ (Level 3) – the highest level possible without using offsets.
“The program is now entering its 8th year here in Europe and it is reassuring to see the continued level of engagement by airports, as they continue to seek out new efficiencies and invest in cleaner technology to identify new ways to lower their CO₂.”
The ACA program certifies airports at four levels of accreditation covering all stages of carbon management including mapping, reduction, optimisation and neutrality. It is independently administered, institutionally endorsed and has won praise from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nation Environment Panel (UNEP) and the European Union (EU).
Dr Grant Kirkman, lead officer, strategic relationship management, UNFCCC Secretariat, said, “It’s always good to see an industry being proactive of its own accord, but it’s even more impressive when those involved express and show real ambition in their activities. Through their commitment to carbon neutrality and concrete climate action, airports demonstrate their contribution toward the achievement of the Paris agreement and the UNFCCC recognizes ACA as a robust framework for this contribution.”