The Airports Council International (ACI) World Annual General Assembly this week said that addressing climate change should remain a key component in airport recovery plans despite the pandemic.
The ACI World Annual General Assembly said governments need to support airports’ recovery by providing policies, investment and incentives to decarbonize the sector and make it more resilient.
Furthermore, airports should keep climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience as key parts of their strategies and recovery plans and identify opportunities to “build back better” by keeping sustainability and resilience at the core of their recovery strategies, the airport organization said.
“Sustainability is one of the key pillars of our industry and climate change continues to pose the highest long-term risk that the world faces and that is far-reaching impacts, including an increased risk of emergence of future pandemics,” ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira said. “While airports contribute only a small fraction to the total level of industry emissions, we are focused on a carbon neutral goal for 2050 with some regions achieving the milestone earlier than that.”
ACI World has advised members to consider multiple solutions for decarbonization and to a gradual transition to net-zero carbon in the long-term and to continue to conduct risk assessments, including them as in integral part of master planning.
