ACI Europe: 204 Carbon Accredited Airports in Europe in May 2022

The Airports Council International (ACI Europe) has published yesterday, on March 14, the annual results of the airport climate action for the Airport Carbon Accreditation during the period 2021-2022, which shows that airports globally have exceeded records in carbon management.

In the period covered by this report, European airports exceeded the global growth factor with a 32 per cent increase in participation numbers, reaching 204 accredited airports at the end of the program year, which started on May 2021 and ended on May 2022, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

According to ACI Europe, 91 new accreditations were also reported this year, thus representing the highest increase since the start of Airport Carbon Accreditation in 2009.

Certified airports so far include airports of all sizes including major global hubs such as:

• London-Heathrow
• Istanbul
• Doha Hamad International
• Singapore-Changi
• Dallas Fort Worth

At the same time, smaller airports serving remote areas, island nations and popular tourist destinations such as Galapagos, Kelowna, Puerto Vallarta, Enfidha Hammamet, Trondheim and Sunshine Coast are also accredited.

“Airports in Europe have also topped the ranking of the highest number of airports at the more advanced levels of accreditation – Levels 3+ (Neutrality) and 4/4+ (Transformation/Transition), with 68 airports in the region holding accreditation at these levels by the end of the reporting year out of the 89 holding it globally,” the statement issued by ACI Europe reads.

The period covered in the report reveals that accredited airports managed to collectively reduce CO2 emissions under their control by 549,643 tons, which is a reduction of -8.1 per cent and is the largest reduction ever achieved through the program. In addition, 898,821 tons of CO2e were offset with high-quality carbon credits.

In this regard, Director General of the General Directorate of Climate Action, European Commission Kurt Vandenberghe highlighted as important the fact that all parts of the economy must take action to address climate change and reduce their emissions.

The General Director of ACI Europe Olivier Jankovec also emphasised that regardless of the challenging background of the recovery during the pandemic period, he feels satisfied by the continuous momentum for climate action at the airport which has been demonstrated in the positive results published in the report.

He also added that as regards carbon management at the global level, European airports are leaders who leave no stone unturned in efforts to rid their infrastructure and operations of carbon.