Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport in Turkey has become the 21st airport globally to achieve Level 4 carbon neutrality from ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) program.
The ACA program certifies airports at four different levels covering all stages of carbon management including mapping, reduction, optimization and neutrality. It is independently administered and has the support of the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Union (EU).
In December 2015, a partnership agreement was signed between ACI and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) pledging to increase the number of carbon neutral airports in Europe from 20 to 50 by 2030.
Angela Gittens, director general, ACI World, said, “An impressive two billion air passengers now travel through airports certified at one of the four levels of the program – equivalent to 33% of global air passenger traffic. With over 100 airports now engaged in ACA, Europe is in the lead on carbon management, but other parts of the world are ramping up their efforts as can be seen from thae strong momentum in Asia-Pacific and North America and growing interest in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. ACA is clearly empowering airports across the world to address their impact on climate change.”
Olivier Jankovec, director general, ACI Europe, said, “We are delighted for TAV (airport operator) and their team at Izmir airport and congratulate them on becoming the latest carbon neutral airport in Europe.
“Most promisingly we are seeing a lot of airports moving up the levels of the program as they strive to get closer and closer to carbon neutrality. There are now 20 European airports at Level 3 optimization – the level just before carbon neutral status – and they welcome over 29% of European air passengers.”
