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Glossary
Education, airports and industry

What is ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation?

Definition

Airport Carbon Accreditation is the global certification programme that independently assesses how airports measure, manage and reduce their carbon emissions, across seven levels.

Who runs it and who takes part

Airport operators worldwide. ACI EUROPE owns and governs the programme with the other ACI regions and support from ACI World, and Environmental Minds administers it. It launched in 2009. To apply, an airport's carbon footprint must be verified under ISO 14064 by an approved verifier.

The seven levels

Per the programme:

  • Level 1: footprint measurement
  • Level 2: carbon management toward a reduced footprint
  • Level 3: third-party engagement; Level 3+: neutrality for direct emissions by offsetting
  • Level 4: transforming operations for absolute reductions; Level 4+: compensation of residual emissions
  • Level 5, launched at COP28 on 6 December 2023: at least a 90 percent absolute cut in Scope 1 and 2 CO2 and net zero for Scope 3 by 2050 or sooner

Metered data for the footprint

A verified footprint needs consumption the airport can defend. Aqueduct meters terminal, airside and tenant loads separately, so Scope 2 is calculated from measured kWh rather than allocations, and tenant billing on shared meters shows which consumption belongs to third parties when Level 3 engagement starts.

Questions

ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation: common questions

Airport Carbon Accreditation is the industry's own carbon management certification for airports, run under Airports Council International. Airports progress through levels that start with measuring their footprint and move to reduction, stakeholder engagement and net zero. Aqueduct's view is on the airport sustainability page.

No. Accreditation is voluntary, but it gives an airport an independently verified footprint it can cite to regulators and airlines. Many airports use it to structure their wider climate plan and report progress against ACI's 2050 net zero goal.

Level 3+ reaches neutrality for direct emissions through offsets. Level 5 demands deep absolute cuts first, with offsets only for what remains. Moving up therefore depends on measured reductions in terminal and airside energy, not only on purchased credits.

Metered electricity, fuel and heating or cooling for airport-controlled assets, plus data on tenants and other third parties for higher levels. Aqueduct supplies the metered half of that picture, organized by asset and site, as described under airside and landside utilities.

See Aqueduct on your own facility.

Bring a site, a utility bill or a question. We will show you where the loss is.

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