Towards Greener Airports – Will Customers Benefit?

Undeniably, the global Green Movement is well underway in many industries, and the aviation industry and airports are taking a leadership role to address the problems associated with climate change.

Recently, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hosted the C40 Los Angeles Airports and Climate Protection Workshop. In partnership with the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group (the world’s largest cities dedicated to tackling climate change), the Clinton Climate Initiative and Los Angeles World Airports, this international forum discussed how cities can lead the way in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from aviation and airport operations.

Mayors, senior airport officials, academics, industry experts and delegates gathered to collectively define and frame the issues, share innovative best practices, and develop meaningful solutions to this pressing global problem. By addressing the technological, regulatory, and political barriers to reducing airport-based emissions, the workshop outlined the challenges and the opportunities of airports going green.

I found the differing points of view in the workshop fascinating and thought it might be interesting to share some of initiatives that will ultimately affect passengers’ travel experiences now and well into the future. Here are just a few highlights of the two-day working session.

Xavier Oh, Airport Council International (ACI) described the ACI Assembly Resolution on Climate Change (2007), where ACI member airports are encouraged to declare firm commitments on environmental goals within their own control, including strategies to reduce carbon emissions, with the ultimate target of becoming carbon neutral. These commitments demonstrate recognition of the severity of the problem and a desire to work towards potential solutions to mitigate the effects of airport operations on climate change.

Just how much carbon is too much? Elizabeth Leavitt, Port of Seattle-Seattle Tacoma Airport addressed the difficult issue of Emission Inventories and the challenges this poses for comparison at the present time. Describing SEA-TAC’s inventory protocol, Leavitt highlighted methods to quantify direct and indirect airport emissions and outlined important future opportunities that airports, tenants, and public agencies can implement.