From Airport World

The Airport Carbon Accreditation programme now covers every region of the globe after it was announced at the 23rd ACI Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) Annual Conference and General Assembly in Cancun last week it was to be extended to airports in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The news comes ahead of this year’s United Nations COP20 Conference Of the Parties focusing on Climate Change, taking place in Lima in early December.

Launched in Europe in 2009, the airport carbon emissions cutting scheme sees gateways certified at four different levels of accreditation (Mapping, Reduction, Optimisation and Neutrality).

In the past 12 months 110 airports in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia-Pacific have achieved Airport Carbon Accredited status.

After achieving significant results in five continents, the launch of Airport Carbon Accreditation in Latin America & Caribbean (in partnership with ACI-LAC) marks the decisive moment the programme has become the global standard for carbon management at airports.

At the launch during on Tuesday, Javier Martinez, director general ACI-LAC, explains: “As an ambitious industry, we want to do our part to lower our carbon footprint in the global aviation system.

“It is our privilege to be the bridge that makes Airport Carbon Accreditation a truly global programme from today, and we look forward to being a bigger part of its success in the coming years.”

Puerto Vallarta International Airport in Mexico has just become the 111th airport in the programme and the first to become certified in Latin-America & Caribbean.

Olivier Jankovec, director general ACI Europe, comments: “We are delighted to see Airport Carbon Accreditation become available to members of ACI-LAC today.

“It’s a big moment for the programme, as it demonstrates the momentum the airport industry’s climate change commitment has gained over the past seven years and that the demand for this kind of tool is now genuinely global.”

Jankovec says many industries talk about their commitments, but a significant part of the global airport industry is already actively addressing its carbon emissions – and have mobilised on this, of their accord.

He adds: “They are proactively reporting on their carbon reduction activities every year and the number of airports is constantly growing too. An impressive 1.48 billion air passengers now travel through airports certified at one of the four levels of the programme.”

Airports committed to apply in the coming months for certification at one of the four levels include Aéroports de Montreal, Denver International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, and Portland International Airport in North America, Libreville Airport and Abidjan Airport in Africa and Galapagos Airport and Quito Airport in Latin America & Caribbean.

For more on this story go to: http://www.airport-world.com/news/general-news/4615-airport-carbon-accreditation-programme-goes-global.html