Eight Indian airports, including Kempegowda International Airport, have been awarded the Airports Council International’s Airport Carbon Accreditation in the Asia Pacific and Middle East region.
What accreditation means
Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) is a global carbon management certification programme for airports and it independently assesses and recognises the efforts of airports to manage and reduce their carbon emissions through six levels of certification, which are Mapping, Reduction, Optimisation, Neutrality, Transformation, and Transition.
While Kempegowda International Airport has got Level 3+ accreditation (Neutrality), Delhi and Mumbai airports have received the highest level 4+ accreditation (Transition).
The other airports to get the accreditation are Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, Level 3+ (Neutrality), Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata, Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar, Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi, and the Trivandrum International Airport, all Level 2 accreditation (Reduction).
Many Indian airports, including KIA, have set a target to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
“Two of the three airports that have achieved the highest ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation levels, Level 4+ (Transition), in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East are from India: Delhi Airport and Mumbai Airport. It’s encouraging to see that Indian airports are leading by example, and setting new benchmarks. Some major airports in India have set a target to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030. This demonstrates India’s commitment to investing in a more sustainable future,” Stefano Baronci, Director General-ACI Asia-Pacific, told The Hindu.
Global scenario
In total, there are 66 airports in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East among 440 accredited global airports in the Airports Council International’s ACA Programme. Globally, 32 airports are in the top tier — Level 4+ (Transition).
Mr. Baronci said according to the ACI forecast, India is expected to account for 7% of global air traffic growth over the next two decades, cementing its position as the world’s third largest civil aviation market until 2040.
“Given the expected increase in air traffic, decarbonising the aviation sector will be critical to the industry’s long-term sustainable growth. We hope to see more Indian airports break into the top tier of our ACA programme in the near future,” Mr. Baronci said.
