Edmonton International Airport Commits to Carbon Neutral Initiative
Edmonton International Airport (EIA) has become the first airport in the world to join The Climate Pledge, with commitment to being carbon neutral by 2040.
The Climate Pledge is an initiative involving more than 100 companies and organizations who believe in the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change. It was founded by Amazon and environmental organization Global Optimism in 2019. By joining this commitment, EIA will be taking increased actions to address this global issue. The airport will be only the third Canadian-based organization to sign The Climate Pledge.
President and CEO, Edmonton International Airport, Tom Ruth, said:Climate change is a real and serious concern, and one of the biggest issues of our time. It is all our responsibility to acknowledge and address global sustainability for future generations. By signing the Climate Pledge, Edmonton Airports is demonstrating to our community and the world that we are dedicated to sustainability and to reducing carbon emissions. Sustainability is inherent in all that we do, and we continue to make significant progress towards our goal of net zero.
Director of Canadian Customer Fulfillment Operations at Amazon, Sumegha Kumar, said:We are pleased to welcome the Edmonton International Airport as the first airport to sign The Climate Pledge, joining more than 100 companies around the world who are committed to addressing climate change and saving the planet for future generations. The Edmonton International Airport is showing important leadership in committing to the ambitious goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, and we look forward to working alongside them.
Approximately 70 per cent of EIA’s CO2e emissions are related to electricity usage. Our long-term commitment to efficiency and innovation shows that in the past 20 years EIA has reduced its energy intensity usage by 50 per cent and further reductions are underway.
As part of The Climate Pledge, there are three principal areas of action:
- Regular Reporting: measure and report greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis;
- Carbon Elimination: implement decarbonization strategies in line with the Paris Agreement through real business changes and innovations, including efficiency improvements, renewable energy, materials reductions, and other carbon emission elimination strategies;
- Credible Offsets: neutralize any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent, and socially-beneficial offsets to achieve net zero annual carbon emissions by 2040.
Several carbon emission reduction projects are already planned or underway at EIA.
- Airport City Solar, the world’s largest airport-based solar farm, will begin construction in 2022 following regulatory approval.
- EIA’s first co-generation power units are now active and will reduce electricity and heat related emissions by approximately 20 per cent. or 7,000-8,000 tonnes per year of CO2e.
- Approximately 18,000 lightbulbs and fixtures have been changed to LED models since 2015 to reduce energy usage across all airport buildings and facilities.
- EIA participates in the third–party verified Airport Carbon Accreditation program managed by Airports Council International to help airports reduce carbon emissions.
There will be no immediate changes for passengers at EIA related to The Climate Pledge. There will be no mandatory fees or costs charged to passengers to meet this agreement. In the future, the airport will offer voluntary options for passengers to directly offset or help lower carbon emissions linked to their flights and activities from Edmonton. These are still in development. Using public transit to come to EIA is one action passengers can currently take, and land remains set aside for an LRT (Light Rail Transit) connection into the City of Edmonton when that is possible in the future.
This article was originally published by Edmonton Airports.
