ACI URGES AIRPORTS TO CONTINUE TO REDUCE THEIR ENVIRO FOOTPRINT

ACI World has called on airports to continue to reduce their environmental footprint in support of the sustainable growth of aviation.

The call was made by ACI World’s deputy director general, Michael Rossell, in his opening remarks at the ICAO Seminar on Green Airports in Lima, Peru. 

Rossell highlighted the concrete steps ACI and its members have been taking to becoming green through the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, and other measures.

“In the last decade, ACI members have worked very hard to reduce airports’ environmental footprint,” said Rossell.

“This has been achieved predominately through the ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, which helps airports assess and reduce their carbon footprint and that of their stakeholders.

“As of late, more than 10 airports have joined the programme in the Latin-America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. The number of accredited airports in the region has grown from 4 in 2015 to 20 as of date.

“We must recognise the efforts of AERODOM, in the Dominican Republic, which certified its six airports at mapping level this year.”

Today’s event in Peru is being held co-operation with ACI, the voice of the world’s airports.

Another tool for airports, noted Rossell, is the ACI Airport Carbon Emission Reporting Tool v.5.1 (ACERT).

Initially designed on behalf of Transport Canada, it enables any airport to measure and manage their CO2 emissions even airports that do not have an environmental expert on staff.

The outputs from ACERT can then be used as a basis for application to the ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation programme.

Further, the recently released Airport Ground Energy Systems Simulator (AGES-S) enables airports to quantify the environmental and economic benefits of reducing the use of aircraft auxiliary power units by replacing them with a ground-based energy system.

The tool was designed by Zurich Airport to help our members create business cases for investment.

Both ACERT and AGES-S are distributed free of charge to ACI members.

The Seminar is being held in conjuncture with the ICAO Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection Working Group 2 – Airports and Operations, and the joint ACI World and ACI LAC Environment Committees.

“It is only by working together that we can craft a sustainable way forward,” Rossell added.

“The Environment Seminar and meetings taking place in Lima this week are the fruits of the 2016 ICAO and ACI’s Memorandum of Cooperation on environmental initiatives.

“While airport environmental stewardship is a global matter that affects all regions, it is also a very local one dependent on the unique factors that make up the location of each airport.

“As such, airports must continue to collaborate with all aviation stakeholders, at the local, regional and international level.”