VINCI Airports’ forest carbon sink programme, launched in 2021 at Lyon-Saint Exupéry, is now being deployed outside France (here, in Portugal).
VINCI Airports is also developing a reforestation programme to offset residual emissions at its airports and encourages partner airline companies to participate in these initiatives. The first such projects were launched at Lyon-Saint Exupéry, Faro and Porto Santo (Madeira) in Portugal, and also at Guanacaste (Costa Rica).
— All airports in the network have joined the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) programme launched by Airports Council International. London Gatwick, Lyon-Saint Exupéry and Guanacaste airports have already reached carbon neutrality (Level 3+) under this programme, and the three airports in Japan managed by VINCI Airports reached the highest level of accreditation (Level 4 Transformation) in 2021, a first for the country.
— At the same time, VINCI Airports works alongside airline companies to help them with their own decarbonisation efforts. Two noteworthy innovations emerged in 2021: the world’s first scheme to modulate airport fees depending on each aircraft’s carbon footprint, implemented first in Lyon (France); and the use of sustainable biofuels (produced from carefully sourced, recycled biomass) to power aircraft, deployed for the first time in France at Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne, and then at London Gatwick during COP26. In the longer term, VINCI Airports is developing, alongside other leaders in its industry, new sources of energy, in particular hydrogen (see Close-up opposite), that will enable massive decarbonisation of air travel in the future.
— VINCI Airports teams also continued to take action on two other focuses of the Group’s environmental ambition. In the areas of the circular economy and waste reduction, staff launched a programme at Lyon-Saint Exupéry to replace single-use plastic with reusable containers, and a campaign to collect waste on the beaches close to Guanacaste airport in Costa Rica, which resulted in the recycling of almost 0.5 tonnes of waste a day. In biodiversity preservation, 37 airports in the VINCI Airports network have already reached the goal of using zero phytosanitary products for upkeep of green spaces. Lastly, VINCI Airports is making good progress on its policy of reducing water consumption – the goal is to halve consumption between now and 2030.