SPECIAL REPORT: SUSTAINABILITY
Never ending journey
ACI World’s senior director for sustainability, environmental protection and legal affairs, Juliana Scavuzzi, explains why sustainability and environmental protection must remain a priority despite today’s challenges.
T
he aviation sector is currently facing two major challenges: to navigate and survive the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 in the short-term; and, to keep its long-term commitments regarding climate change. There is no doubt that the pressure from governments and society on the sector to decarbonise remains, and will only intensify, when higher traffic levels resume. To avoid being locked-in to alternatives which could delay decarbonisation, and potentially make it less attractive for investment, we, the entire aviation industry, need to keep sustainability and environmental issues high on our list of priorities.
Climate change, sustainability and investment A recent survey of investors and financing stakeholders – carried out by ACI and international consultancy ICF – showed that, prior to COVID-19, 70% of those surveyed already required sustainability related criteria to inform their decisions; and, that 50% believed that COVID-19 had escalated climate change as a risk to investment in general. Failure to address such risk in a timely manner, and to account for the costs and benefits to decarbonise, could compromise aviation recovery. Resilience in the post-COVID era should be pursued holistically through a comprehensive systemic risk analysis of operations,
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AIRPORT WORLD/ISSUE 5, 2020
infrastructure, people, supply chains, sustainable business models and cost to decarbonise. In fact, COVID has proven that our survival depends not only on the resilience of our infrastructure and operations, but also of our passengers, staff, supply chains, other aviation and non-aviation stakeholders, the local and global economy, climate, health systems, among others. In short, airports are central to the global system. It is not an easy task to address short, mid and long-term risks at a time when airports and other aviation stakeholders are struggling to keep the business alive and operating, despite the lack of customers, cash flow, and adequate financial support from governments. Regardless, the aviation industry has reacted quickly to implement health and safety measures in co-operation with governments to give passengers, staff and authorities the confidence that it is safe to fly, with the precautionary measures in place.
Towards a consistent approach to sustainability We are still, unfortunately, far from the consistent approach among different countries to make this international sector viable to fully return and bring the benefits to society and the global economy that we so much need during a recession.
