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ACI World director general, Luis Felipe de Oliveira, considers the sustainability challenges facing airports.

This edition of Airport World focuses on the sustainability of airports and the wider aviation system – a topic that perhaps has never been as timely as today.

As global demand for air travel rises, the industry has the ambitious task of managing growth and environmental responsibility agendas simultaneously to ensure the industry’s positive social and economic benefits flourish.

As many might be aware, aviation supports 87.7 million jobs worldwide, contributes $3.5 trillion to global GDP, and supports many of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals.

Airports continue to be at the forefront of environmental stewardship. In June 2021, ACI and our airport members were the first sector in aviation to commit to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in June 2021, a goal that was followed by the entire aviation industry in October 2021, and joined by governments at the 41st Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in October 2022.

As this edition reflects, airports’ commitment to a greener future is supported by action. Airports and their stakeholders around the world are working towards cleaner energy sources for aviation, integrating advanced technologies, reducing their carbon emissions, and navigating the complex landscapes of ESG reporting, amongst many other initiatives.

ACI World, as the voice of the world’s airports, is here to facilitate airports’ transition by representing our members’ interests on the global stage and I’m pleased to report on key advancements in this regard.

At the end of November, ICAO held the third Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3), which brings together high-level officials from States who have the authority to make policy-related decisions, as well as international organisations with direct involvement in aviation cleaner energy, that are invited to participate as Observers.

During the five-day event, ACI, representing the airport industry, had expressed its support for the aviation sector transition away from fossil fuels. ACI had pressed for an ambitious quantified goal for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) deployment for 2030, with a view that a 5% reduction in the carbon intensity goal should be considered a necessary starting point.

ACI had also asked that States agree on a supportive global framework to enable implementation of the goal and to provide the necessary assistance to developed and developing countries. These measures can de-risk investment and ensure policy certainty, while enabling all States to participate both in the production and use of SAF on a non-discriminatory basis.

We were encouraged with the outcomes of our efforts that have massive implications for the sustainability of the industry; on November 24, governments from over 100 States, meeting with industry and civil society, set a goal that aviation fuel in 2030 should be 5% less carbon intensive than the fossil fuel which makes up nearly all of today’s aviation energy.

A few days after CAAF/3, the world came together at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) where ACI participated, most notably at the Global Sustainable Aviation Forum, organised by the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) that reunites key speakers from across the aviation sector.

At this event, ACI World led discussions on no country being left behind in the transition to cleaner energy sources, the critical role of clean hydrogen as an alternative propulsion source, and the need incentivizing related airport infrastructure development.

ATAG’s members, of which ACI is part of, share a vision of ensuring air transport can continue to connect the world and support economic and social development in the decades to come, while respecting the commitment to climate action underlined by the Paris Agreement.

As ATAG has stated, “Three things are needed to make the aviation energy transition happen: government policy to support supply and create certainty for demand; financing of the potentially $1.5 trillion in infrastructure capital needed to supply SAF at the scale required; and a serious effort by the traditional energy sector to shift their products from fossil to sustainable fuels.”

Likewise, ACI continues to call on governments to ensure that policies and regulatory frameworks are adapted to airports’ specific circumstances, to support the global electrical grid transition to net zero carbon, and to incentivise infrastructure development with appropriate financial mechanisms.

We firmly believe in aviation as a force for good, and in our ability to deliver the long-term goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. A greener future is possible, but the global challenge of climate changes requires a global response; government support and increased collaboration across sectors is urgently needed.