Swedavia's climate work highlighted at COP28 – Göteborg Landvetter Airport and Malmö Airport included in unique pilot project

Göteborg Landvetter Airport and Malmö Airport are now two of the first ten airports in the world, and the only airports in Northern Europe, to receive the highest level of certification according to the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) - the international industry standard for climate transition work at the world’s airports. The increased ambition means that the entire value chain in the airport operations will eventually have net-zero carbon dioxide emissions, including Swedavia’s suppliers and partners. The certificate was presented to Swedavia at a ceremony during the COP 28 climate summit in Dubai.

As early as 2020, Swedavia transitioned to fossil-free operations at all ten of its airports, making Swedavia the first airport operator in the world to take this monumental step. Achieving and maintaining net-zero carbon dioxide emissions in airport operations is a prerequisite for the new certification, which means that Malmö Airport and Göteborg Landvetter Airport will work to ensure that within their operations, the entire value chain, including all procured goods and services, will achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions no later than 2050.

"The climate transition in the transport sector needs to be accelerated in order to achieve the goals set out in the Paris Agreement. We are a world leader in climate work at our airports, and it is only natural that the next step in this is to both support and place demands on other actors in our value chain to promote their own transition and to encourage innovation and climate-smart solutions. The fact that Swedavia was recognised as an international model for its climate work during COP 28 is extremely gratifying and an honour. This encourages us to continue our ambitious transition work and to be an active part of the climate transition that is needed in the aviation industry", says Jonas Abrahamsson, president and CEO of Swedavia.

As part of the certification, Swedavia will map and report all other emissions generated by operators at its airports in addition to emissions from its own operations. Individual action plans will also be developed in collaboration with the airports’ partners, which will set out clear environmental and climate requirements for any business that wishes to carry out operations at Swedavia’s airports.

Swedavia's goal is for all of the company's airports to receive the highest level of ACA certification, and for Stockholm Arlanda Airport to be certified as early as next year.

Together with eight other international airports, Malmö Airport and Göteborg Landvetter Airport are the only airports in Northern Europe to receive the highest level of ACA certification. The new certification was presented during the COP 28 climate conference in Dubai.

In addition to its work to transform its own airport operations, Swedavia is also a driving force behind the transition throughout the aviation industry, which in Sweden means that domestic air travel will be fossil-free by 2030 and that all flights departing from Swedish airports will be fossil-free by no later than 2045.

Facts about Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA)

• Airport Carbon Accreditation is a framework within the Airport Council International (ACI) that evaluates airports' efforts to manage and reduce their carbon dioxide emissions and climate impact. The framework has seven levels.
  
  
• ACA 5 (Level 5) means that the airport operator must achieve zero emissions of climate gases from its own operations (scope 1 and 2), which Swedavia achieved in 2020. Zero emissions means at least a 90% reduction compared to 2010. The remaining 10% will be removed by purchasing carbon offsets in projects that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, such as forest growth or carbon capture storage (CCS). In addition, a plan must be in place for how emissions from the entire value chain will reach zero by 2050, in accordance with the Paris Agreement's 1.5 degree target. Swedavia achieves this through its partnership plan.
  
  
• Stockholm Arlanda Airport was one of 17 airports that joined the framework at its inception in 2009. Swedavia became the first airport group in the world to achieve fossil-free status in its own airport operations at the end of 2020.
  
  
• Stockholm Arlanda Airport also became the first airport to receive ACI's newly established ECO Innovation Award in 2010, an award that the airport also received in 2021.

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