When developing stakeholder engagement an airport could consider:
An airport should consider key messages to be communicated
Awareness and behavioural change campaigns to raise the profile of energy efficiency and low carbon practices across the airport community. This could include campaigns encouraging specific behaviours such as vehicle switch off / reduced idling time campaigns.
Formal airport wide schemes to encourage and facilitate take up of specific personal or operational practices or choice of equipment or vehicles. For example car sharing programme, clean vehicle schemes and waste minimisation and recovery programmes.
Working with key business partners to ensure that they understand airport policy and goals and objectives and can support implementation. For example through tenant forums, airside operator groups or consultative committees.
Working with airport planners and third parties to ensure that airport’s infrastructure plans reflect and implement the airport’s carbon reduction goals and can facilitate reductions in the emissions from significant third parties. For example working with airlines to reduce ground running and taxiing times.
Providing training to third parties on energy efficiency and carbon management techniques.
Setting minimum performance standards for example for building / retail unit refurbishment, operational practices and vehicle fleets.
Using incentives and cost structures to encourage good practice and use of efficient vehicles. For example differential charging for aircrafts with lower / higher emissions.
Building-in carbon / energy considerations into existing third party lease / contractual conditions and or incorporating checks on performance and implementation in airport auditing processes.
Forming strategic partnerships with key airport operators e.g. airlines or contractors to collaborate on investment projects and opportunities.
There are a number of different media which should be employed to engage stakeholders. The channels of communication will be determined by availability, practicality, cost and appropriateness
Communicating the RIGHT message at the RIGHT time to the RIGHT people will be critical to ensure that the required level of engagement is achieved
10Offsetting
10.1Determining the Emissions to be Offset
Airport Carbon Accreditationrequires, at Level 3+, that an airport has achieved “carbon neutrality” for the activities within its direct control (i.e. scope 1 and scope 2 emission sources, plus Scope 3 staff business travel emissions). This will require that the airport offset residual emissions through purchase offsets the purchase or generation of carbon credits or offsets to achieve carbon neutrality as defined by the programme. The types of offsets that are permissible are detailed in Section 10.7.
Airports only need to offset residual scope 1 and 2 emissions
Airport Carbon Accreditation considers that all Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are under close enough control or guidance from the airport itself that the airport should be responsible for offsetting these emissions in order to achieve carbon neutrality.
Equally, Scope 3 emissions, except those from staff business travel, are generally not under close control or guidance from the airport and the airport should therefore NOT be responsible for offsetting these emissions.
10.2Consideration of Other Emissions Control Programmes
Within Europe the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) controls the emissions from large scale combustion plants (e.g. on site CHP or large scale boiler plant) through a cap-and-trade emissions trading scheme. However, the current implementation of the EU ETS provides free allowances to participants, which are expected to cover most if not all emissions from the facility.
For the purposes of calculating the requirement for offsetting in Airport Carbon Accreditation, emissions allowances that have been allocated to an airport or a contracted airport facility operator free of charge will not be considered as “neutralising” any of the airport’s carbon footprint.
The calculation of residual emissions for the purposes of offsetting is therefore very simple:
Emissions allowances that have been purchased to cover any of the Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. (free allowance allocations may not be included)
-
Total Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions
=
Residual emissions to be offset
10.4Permissible Offsets
Airport Carbon Accreditation has been designed to give participant airports significant flexibility in deciding how they should offset their emissions in order to achieve carbon neutrality. However, the programme also recognises that the practice of offsetting is subject to scrutiny by a variety of stakeholders and that the offsets being used should be robust and verifiable. The offsets purchased should also pass a test of additionality, section 10.5 refers.
10.5Additionality
Carbon offsets arise because an organisation or individual undertakes work that reduces the level of carbon emissions at an activity or facility from the level that would have otherwise been the case had the work not been undertaken, i.e. will lead to emissions reductions when compared to “business as usual”. The additionality test is that without the funding from the purchase of those offsets the work would not have been undertaken and the emissions reduction would not have been realised, as detailed below.
Testing for additionality
The Executive Board of the UNFCCC has developed a toolkit to help project developers assess projects’ additionality. Published as the ‘CDM tool for the demonstration and assessment of additionality’, this has been widely used in the CDM market and is a robust process to test additionality for emissions reduction projects. Under the CDM tool, a project is additional if it meets the following criteria:
It is not required by current regulation
It is not common practice (ie technology or practice has not diffused in the relevant sector or region where the project is carried out); and/or
It faces economic, investment or technological barriers that would prevent the implementation of the project. Examples of economic barriers could be an inability to meet IRR, NPV or payback criteria; investment barriers include a lack of access to debt funding or to capital markets due to real or perceived risks associated with the project; and technological barriers include lack of labour resources needed to operate and maintain the technology or a lack of infrastructure needed to implement projects in the country or region
