Oslo Airport awarded highest ACA accreditation
Oslo Airport has again been accredited at the highest level in the ACA programme.
Airport Carbon Accreditation, or ACA, is a voluntary carbon management certification programme for airports. Airports all over the world can now seek accreditation under this unique programme, the purpose of which is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Airports participating in the programme must prepare a greenhouse gas inventory that satisfies ISO14064 (Greenhouse Gas Accounting) requirements. Moreover, both the inventory and the application to ACA must be verified by a third party. DNV GL provides this service for Oslo Airport.
Oslo Airport has again been accredited, this time for 2015, at the highest level under the ACA programme, an accreditation the airport has held every year since 2009.
“Since opening in 1998, environmental protection has been an important part of Oslo Airport’s strategy. We are of course proud of this accreditation, which means that we are working diligently and in a targeted manner to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions,” says Ole Jørgen Holt Hanssen, director of security and safety management at Oslo Airport.
To qualify for participation in the programme, airports must map their own sources of greenhouse gases. This is level 1. The goal is then to reduce emissions. At level 2 the airport must demonstrate that it actually reduces greenhouse gas emissions from year to year. Level 3 includes mapping emissions from third parties (airlines and various service providers) at the airport and encouraging these parties to reduce their emissions.
The highest level of certification is referred to as 3+, "Neutrality". This signifies that the airport compensates for remaining emissions through carbon offsets. In 2014, Oslo Airport invested in a landfill project in Colombia. The project is UN-approved because it meets all the criteria for a so-called CDM project, or Clean Development Mechanism.