Bavaria’s Munich Airport has been recognized for its ongoing efforts to reduce its CO2 emissions.
Airport Council International (ACI Europe), the umbrella organization of European airports, has awarded the airport the second-highest rating under its Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) program.
The airport is now rated at the ‘Optimization’ level on the four-level scale measuring progress toward climate-neutral operations. The levels extend from ‘mapping’ and ‘reduction’ through to ‘optimization’ and finally ‘neutrality’.
Munich has taken part in the ACA certification process since 2009, providing extensive documentation every year on the progressive reduction of its carbon footprint. The airport reduced its directly attributable CO2 emissions from approximately 3.4kg per passenger in 2009 to around 2.2kg per passenger in 2018 – a difference of 35%.
“We are very pleased with the ACA certification, which shows that we are well on the way to climate neutrality. Munich Airport is using a wide range of innovative measures to progressively cut down its CO2 emissions, thus making our operations as environmentally responsible as possible, while minimizing the use of resources. We are pursuing an ambitious climate protection program with total investments of €150m [US$160m],” said Jost Lammers, president and CEO of the airport.
Munich is documenting its emissions in accordance with the internationally recognized Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG). This will be followed by gradual reductions in emissions based on a voluntary commitment. The airport plans to achieve this mainly through innovative technologies, initially without purchasing carbon certificates. Later, when all of the technical possibilities have been fully utilized, the unavoidable remaining CO2 emissions will be offset through projects in the airport region.
With climate protection a key part of its corporate strategy, Munich Airport aims to reach the top ACA classification – neutrality – by 2030, and has committed to achieving net-carbon-zero status by 2050.