The message from the ICAO Seminar on Green Airports, held in cooperation with ACI on May 8 in Lima, Peru, was that airports need to continue to reduce their environmental footprint in support of the sustainable growth of aviation.
Speaking at the event, ACI deputy director general Michael Rossell highlighted the concrete steps that the organization and its members have been taking to becoming green.
“In the past decade, ACI members have worked very hard to reduce airports’ environmental footprint,” said Rossell. “This has been achieved predominantly through the ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation program, which helps airports assess and reduce their carbon footprint and that of their stakeholders.
“As of late, more than 10 airports have joined the program in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. The number of accredited airports in the region has grown from four in 2015 to 20 today.
“We must recognize the efforts of Aerodom, in the Dominican Republic, which certified its six airports at mapping level this year.”
Another tool for airports is the ACI Airport Carbon Emission Reporting Tool v.5.1 (ACERT), initially designed on behalf of Transport Canada, which enables any airport to measure and manage its 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 program.
Rossell added, “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.”