At the 35th Aci Europe Annual congress and general assembly in Athens on 18-20 June, the association representing Europe's airports published its updated "Net zero" resolution, "announcing major progress in climate action at airports, with more European airports joining the industry's commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050, bringing forward their target years and publicly disclosing their roadmaps to reach net zero emissions", as stated in a statement which also explains:

• "314 airports in 36 European countries have now made public their roadmap to reach net zero emissions by 2050, 11 more than last year;
• 122 of these airports have set even more ambitious targets, aiming to reach net zero emissions by 2030 or earlier – four more than last year;
• overall, airports that have signed the industry commitment and submitted their net zero roadmap for publication in the Aci Europe repository handle 87% of European air passenger traffic, confirming that the vast majority of European airports are working towards this shared goal."

European airports embrace transparency in transition to net-zero emissions future

According to the organization, "first adopted in 2019, Aci Europe's 'Net zero' resolution is revised annually, welcoming more airports with more ambitious targets and including new stringent engagement requirements. In 2023, the resolution was strengthened by requiring committed airports to publish, within one year, their own roadmap outlining their plans to progress towards achieving net zero emissions under their control. This requirement was intended to align with the 2022 'UN Guidance', which recommends that net zero commitments by non-state entities be supported by publicly available and actionable plans. As a result, the publicly available repository on the association's website now contains over 100 roadmaps covering 314 airports in 36 countries 3, ensuring transparency and accountability in the industry's progress towards its net zero targets.

Airport climate action results
"The concerted efforts of the airport sector on climate have consistently delivered positive results, as demonstrated by the growing participation and annual emissions reductions achieved through the Airport carbon accreditation programme. Building on the airport sector’s evolving trajectory and increasing climate ambition, Aci Europe introduced a new accreditation level in December 2023: level 5. In a world and industry first, this new level has established a decarbonisation model, certifying airports to achieve and maintain a net zero carbon balance for emissions under their control (scope 1 and 2) and extending the mapping, influencing and reporting requirements for all other emissions (scope 3). Level 5 accredited airports are also required to commit to achieving net zero carbon emissions in all three areas by 2050. To date, 17 airports in Europe hold this important accreditation.
To date, 286 European airports are certified for carbon management under the Airport carbon accreditation. These airports have collectively avoided the emission of 280,000 tonnes of CO₂ into the atmosphere in the last reporting period of the programme (May 2023 - May 2024).

On the congress see also the articles published by AVIONEWS 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.