ICAO HEADQUARTERS MONTREAL, CANADA (PHOTO CARIBB)
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ICAO
By Adekunle Williams and Solomon Asowata
Lagos, Dec. 4, 2017 (NAN) The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has intensified moves to ensuring greener and environmental friendly airports across the world.
ICAO’s Secretary General, Dr Fang Liu, made this known while declaring open the United Nations Aviation Agency’s Seminar on Green Airports at the agency’s Headquarters in Montréal, Canada.
A copy of the speech was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.
Liu said the seminar was organised to permit ICAO Member States and industry stakeholders to exchange ideas on the latest technological, operational and policy advancements with an environmental focus.
She said this could assist the ongoing efforts of airports globally to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and assure more sustainable operations.
“There are presently close to 400 airports worldwide which are either under construction, undergoing major expansions, or are at advanced planning stages for related objectives.
“This represents a 25 per cent increase compared to 2016 and this growth trend is being driven by an ever-increasing demand for air travel,” Liu said.
According to her, current air traffic flight and passenger volumes are projected to double in just 15 years’ time and so will aviation’s ability to increase tourism and trade and foster many other sustainable socio-economic benefits for civil societies globally.
“This underscores why it is so important today that future increases in air transport capacity are managed by airports which have been built or modernised on the basis of the most effective environmental policies and capabilities available.
“2016 was a record year for the installation of renewable energy capacity worldwide, and in parallel, the cost of solar photovoltaics has decreased by 80 per cent and the cost of wind energy by 30 per cent in just the past five years.
“We can take this as a historic turning point in our efforts to design and realise sustainable airports,” she noted.
Also, Ms Angela Gittens, Director General, Airports Council International (ACI) noted that aviation and airports had come a long way in minimising their environmental footprint.
“I am proud to affirm ACI’s commitment to working with aviation stakeholders and helping our members on the full range of environmental performance,” she added.
During the event, ICAO, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union (EU) launched a compendium of new guidance material, tools and resources for governments which had been developed under various capacity-building and assistance projects.
These are intended to provide States with information on how to implement measures to reduce CO2 emissions from international civil aviation.(NAN)
WAC/ASO/EAL/EAL
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Edited by Ekemini Ladejobi