'Reduce carbon emissions' says CEO of Heathrow

CEO of Heathrow Airport, John Holland-Kaye asked for global leaders to take decisive action to reduce carbon emissions whilst participating in a panel discussion at the Global Sustainable Aviation Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, at the end of September. He highlighted Heathrow’s status as a global leader in carbon reduction, with both its Heathrow Sustainability Partnership and Heathrow Commuter Programme initiatives featuring in the Aviation Climate Solutions report. Heathrow has achieved Level 3 Airport Carbon Accreditation, as a result of its work to reduce its carbon footprint by engaging with third parties. Heathrow has pledged to reduce carbon emissions by an additional 34% by 2020 by reducing energy used in buildings. It will also further reduce CO2 emission by transforming airport transport such as cars and vans to electric by 2020. The airport also strives to tackle flight emissions from flights through a market-based measure to address our impact on climate change and supported the inclusion of aviation in the European Emissions Trading Scheme back in 2012. As part of the Airports Council International, Heathrow signed an open letter calling for governments worldwide to support the aviation industry’s approach to climate change which involves investing in research for alternative fuels and new technology and improving air traffic management. The letter also calls for the ICAO to implement a mandatory carbon offset scheme by 2020 to stabilize net CO2 emissions. The aim is that by 2050 net aviation CO2 emissions will be reduced to half of the 2005 total. The Airports Commission states that operating a third runway at Heathrow would not prevent the UK from meeting its long-term climate change reduction targets. The introduction of a mandatory global carbon offset scheme would mean that the CO2 from the additional flights would be offset.