ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation programme reaches global status: Underscores airports’ commitment to taking a leading role in ensuring the sustainability of the aviation industry

14 November 2014 – Airports Council International – Latin America & Caribbean (ACI-LAC) announced this week the regional launch of the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme at their 23rd Annual Assembly, Conference and Exhibition. The programme has now been extended to all ACI regions and has just achieved global reach – providing significant benefits to airports worldwide.

Airport Carbon Accreditation, pioneered by ACI EUROPE in 2009, independently assesses and recognizes airports’ efforts to measure, manage and reduce their CO2 emissions. It is independently administered, institutionally-endorsed and has won praise from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nation Environment Panel (UNEP) and the European Union (EU).

“This milestone clearly demonstrates airports’ dedication to sustainable growth and that we are taking proactive and robust actions to achieve aviation’s commitment made in September at the United Nations Climate Summit,” said Angela Gittens, Director General, ACI World.

At the Summit, ICAO and the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), representing the global aviation industry, said: “Air transport connects the world. It is a vital engine of global economic growth supporting over 58 million jobs and $2.4 trillion in gross domestic product. In order that all parts of the world are able to benefit from the rapid connectivity advantages of air transport, the sector has committed itself to a pathway of sustainable growth encompassing all areas of the commercial industry and governments working in partnership.”

“Aviation’s goals2 and our renewed commitment to stabilizing aviation’s carbon emissions from 2020 will be communicated at the Conference of the Parties (COP20) due to take place in Lima in December 2014. With programmes like the Airport Carbon Accreditation, improvement will continue to be delivered,” said Gittens.

Airport Carbon Accreditation is now live across the world and the 111 airports certified by the programme welcome 25.9% of global air passenger traffic annually.

Other ACI initiatives aimed at curbing CO2 emissions include reducing taxiway separations, Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM)—a system that can reduce taxi times, optimize airport throughput, increase capacity and operational efficiency, save fuel and alleviate noise —and the Airport Carbon and Emissions Reporting Tool (ACERT), a free software tool developed by Transport Canada which allows airports to begin tracking their emissions and which can be used as a first step toward Airport Carbon Accreditation.

For more information on ACI’s commitment to ensuring the sustainable growth of the worldwide aviation industry, please visit www.aci.aero/environment.

To find out which airports are certified at one of the 4 levels of Airport Carbon Accreditation, visit:
http://www.airportcarbonaccreditation.org/airport/participants.html

Notes to editors

1. Airports Council International (ACI), the only worldwide association of airports, has 591 member airport authorities, which operate 1,861 airports in 177 countries. ACI’s mission is to promote professional excellence in airport management and operations, and this mandate is carried out through the organization’s multiple training opportunities, as well as the customer service benchmarking programme, a wide range of conferences, industry statistical products and best practice publications.

2. Airports, airlines, air navigation service providers and the manufacturers of aircraft and engines (represented by ATAG), set some ambitious goals:

• Improving fleet fuel efficiency by 1.5% per year through 2020;
• Stabilizing net emissions from 2020 through carbon-neutral growth, subject to concerted industry and governmental initiatives; and
• Reducing net aviation carbon emissions 50% by 2050, relative to 2005 levels.

3. To download a PDF of this press release click here.

Media contacts

Martine Ohayon
Director, Communications and Events
ACI World
Telephone: +1 514 373 1200
Email: mohayon@aci.aero

Ryan White
Manager, Communications
ACI World
Telephone: +1 514 373 1226
Email: rwhite@aci.aero