The European airport industry marked a milestone during ACI Europe’s 13th Regional Airport Conference and Exhibition taking place in Palermo this week with more than 200 airports now engaged in climate action with the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme.
At the latest count, 204 European airports were engage in climate action at one of the six available certification levels. Catania Fontanarossa was named the 200th airport to be accredited during the conference on Tuesday 29 March having achieved Level 2. Meanwhile, Shannon, Jersey and Newcastle airports were all accredited at Level 1 and Brussels South Charleroi at Level 2.
Since launching in 2009, the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme has enjoyed robust growth with European hubs topping the ranking of the highest number of airports at the more advanced levels of accreditation. Speaking at ACI Europe’s conference, Olivier Jankovec, ACI Europe’s Director General stated that “today’s milestone leaves no doubt that European airports are true leaders in decarbonisation, committed to addressing their emissions through thick and thin.”
Underlining that the climate emergency remains a top priority for airports despite the other crises on the continent, Clara de La Torre, Deputy Director General, DG Climate Action, European Commission commented: “Europe’s airports’ persistence and exemplary commitment to climate action is all the more noteworthy as the challenges we face right now affect their day-to-day operation and their future deeply.”
Jankovec added: “The past two years have been particularly daunting for our industry and it would have been easy to “postpone” climate action until better times came around. Instead, what we have witnessed is a landslide engagement in Airport Carbon Accreditation, both in terms of new accreditations and upgrades to the most stringent levels of carbon management.”
He concluded that today’s milestone “leaves no doubt that European airports are true leaders in decarbonisation, committed to addressing their emissions through thick and thin.”
