Airports in carbon-neutral pledge

Nearly 200 European airports in 45 countries pledged last week to drastic reductions in their greenhouse gas output by 2050. The figure applies to infrastructure, not the aicraft that use the facilities, which are subject to separate rules.

Airport Council International (ACI) Europe said the carbon-neutral strategy brought the sector into alignment with the Paris Agreement by putting climate change at the heart of business decisions.

Outgoing president Michael Kerkloh said the move was “an absolute must” for all industries and confirmed 140 of his organisation’s members had committed to the net-zero emissions goal. Swedish airport group Swedavia is said to have achieved it already.

The number of airports pledging cuts by 2050 has rsen sharply from the 100 that made the same promise in 2017, although the deadline for carbon-neutrality then was 2030.

Airports said they will attempt to reduce their carbon footprints by improving the energy efficiency of buildings and using electric vehicles that can run on renewable energy. Stockholm’s express trainlink is one example that runs on clean energy.

Kerkloh added that imposing taxes on aviation “would do nothing” to reduce aircraft emissions and instead urged manufacturers to work towards cleaner planes through technological solutions.

www.aci-europe.org

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