European Airports Make Great Strides Within Airport Carbon Accreditation

28th June 2022

At their 32nd Annual Congress & General Assembly last week, ACI EUROPE announced the latest upgrades and new accreditations achieved by European airports. A number of these newly upgraded and accredited airports joined a dedicated Airport Carbon Accreditation certificate ceremony on stage.

As the only global programme for reducing airport emissions and the progress made by airports under Airport Carbon Accreditation – the global standard and programme for carbon management at airports – is perhaps the fullest picture of all of airports’ commitment to decarbonisation.

ACI EUROPE announced that eight airports have met all the stringent requirements to become accredited at the highest level of the programme, Level 4+ Transition. From small regional airports in remote Lapland to the busiest airports in the UK and the Netherlands, the eight newcomers to this highest level have fully aligned their carbon management with the Paris Agreement and established effective partnerships with companies operating within their grounds to reduce emissions. The ground is now ready at London Heathrow, Amsterdam Schiphol, Eindhoven, Helsinki and 4 Lapland Airports (Rovaniemi, Kittilä, Kuusamo and Ivalo) to further accelerate decarbonisation of their own operations and their partners in line with their commitment to net zero aviation.

The momentum for climate action among European airports is also visible in the surge in new accreditations and upgrades to higher levels. In the past month, five European airports became accredited for the first time. These climate smart airports are: Ibiza in Spain, Carcassonne, Perpignan Rivesaltes, Béziers Cap d’Agde and Pau Pyrenees in France. The latest upgrades were made by Bulgaria’s Sofia (Level 3), Turkey’s Istanbul (Level 3), Spain’s Palma de Mallorca, Alicante Elche and Menorca (Level 2 and 3) and France’s Poitiers Biard and Bordeaux Mérignac (both at Level 2).

Congratulations to all the airports going the extra mile to limit their impact on the climate!