Shannon Airport has reached new heights with Europe’s Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) programme, after being awarded Carbon Accreditation Level 2 by the globally recognised Airport Council International (ACI).
The accreditation acknowledges the commitment set out in The Shannon Airport Group’s Sustainability Strategy to green its operations and reduce the airport’s carbon footprint.
Steps taken by Shannon Airport to achieve Level 2 – Reduction accreditation involved demonstrating a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over a three-year period through energy saving projects such as active energy monitoring and management and an airport wide upgrade to more efficient LED lighting.
It also included the submission of a carbon management plan that sets out a comprehensive programme of work to achieve a 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and Net Zero by 2050.
Last year, Shannon Airport joined over 200 European airports engaged in one of six available certification levels of the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, after it received certification for Level 1 – Mapping of the programme.
This followed the airport’s signing up to the groundbreaking Toulouse Declaration in February 2022, which marked the first time that European Governments, the European Commission, industry, unions, and other key stakeholders formally aligned on aviation decarbonisation.
Welcoming the accreditation Sinéad Murphy, Head of Sustainability at The Shannon Airport Group said: “We are delighted to have received this accreditation and are already working towards achieving the next level of the programme in 2024. We have worked with experts to develop a detailed decarbonation plan for our airport and while there is more work to be done, we are excited to embark on this project that will futureproof our airport.”
The accreditation programme recognises efforts in six levels: mapping, reduction, optimization, neutrality, transformation, and transition. The programme is a voluntary carbon management certification standard for airports, that independently assesses and certifies airports for their efforts in managing and reducing their carbon emissions.
