Witnessed by over 400 delegates, these three airports were honoured at the 8th ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly which was held on April 23, in Phuket, Thailand, while they were presented with their certificates of various levels under Airport Carbon Accreditation.
Suvarnabumi International Airport has become Airport Carbon Accredited at Level 1, 'Mapping' level. Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport was upgraded from level 1 to Level 2, ‘Reduction’ level while Hong Kong International Airport has become the first Asia-Pacific airport to be Airport Carbon Accredited at Level 3, 'Optimisation' level. To achieve level 3, it is required to reduce airport’s CO2 emissions and engage with third party airport stakeholders to reduce more CO2 emission that the airport can guide and influence.
In congratulating the accredited airports, Mrs. Patti Chau, Regional Director of ACI Asia-Pacific said, “Airport Carbon Accreditation programme was first extended to our region in November 2011 and eight airports have been accredited since then. I wish to thank the airports in the region for their commitment in contributing to environmental sustainability. I am especially delighted to welcome Hong Kong International Airport as the first airport in Asia-Pacific to achieve the Airport Carbon Accreditation 'Optimisation' level.”
Airport Carbon Accreditation is the institutionally endorsed programme that independently assesses and recognises airports’ efforts to manage and reduce their CO2 emissions. Participating airports can be certified at 4 progressive levels of accreditation as follows: ‘Mapping’, ‘Reduction’, ‘Optimisation’, and ‘Neutrality’.
Accredited Asia-Pacific airports include:
Level 1, Mapping: Abu Dhabi International Airport
Changi Airport, Singapore
Suvarnabumi International Airport, Bangkok
Level 2, Reduction: Bengaluru International Airport, Bangalore
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai
Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad
Level 3, Optimisation: Hong Kong International Airport
Airport Carbon Accreditation was first launched by ACI Europe in 2009. In November 2011, the programme received support from ICAO and was extended to the Asia-Pacific region. Airport Carbon Accreditation is an independent programme administered by WSP Environment & Energy, an international consultancy appointed to enforce the accreditation criteria for airports. The administration of the programme is overseen by an independent Advisory Board. Airports must have carbon footprints independently verified in accordance with 2ISO14064 (Greenhouse Gas Accounting). Evidence of this must be provided to the administrator together with all claims regarding carbon management processes which must also be independently verified.
For more information about Airport Carbon Accreditation, please visit the website: http://www.airportcarbonaccreditation.org.