6 Things You May Not Know About Sustainable Airports

Sustainable airports need a mix of solutions, not a single pathway. ACI World Environmental Sustainability Committee Chair Melina Santos Vanderlinder from VINCI Concessions outlines six priorities: cutting airports’ own emissions, consuming clean energy, helping reduce aviation’s emissions, adapting to climate risk, going beyond carbon to circularity, communities and noise, as well as protecting biodiversity. 

Working on sustainability at VINCI Airports for over seven years and being the Chair of the ACI World Environmental Sustainability Committee (WEnSC) for almost two years has shown me that there is no single pathway to becoming more sustainable. Every airport has its own organisational structure, operational realities, infrastructure, energy needs, stakeholders, environmental and regulatory context, which means that its sustainable development requires a combination of solutions and a long-term, integrated approach. 

Airports are small cities, critical infrastructure, transport hubs, and economic engines, all at the same time. Their sustainability journey therefore spans decarbonisation, resilience, circular economy, water, biodiversity, noise and local communities, in collaboration with the wider aviation ecosystem.

Key takeaways: 

• Reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions is central to the long-term climate transition of airports. 
• Airports can work with energy providers and grid operators to access low-carbon electricity, including through power purchase agreements (PPAs). 
• Airports can support Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) deployment through collaboration, advocacy, communication and financial mechanisms, even though they generally are not involved in fuel procurement. 
• Improving resilience to floods, storms, heatwaves and other hazards is an economic and safety investment, not only an environmental one. 

Here are six things I think are worth knowing about the sustainable airports of today – and tomorrow. 

1. Reducing an airport’s own emissions is at the heart of airports’ long-term climate transition.  

The management of water, waste, noise, communities and biodiversity need to be integrated into airport development from the start. 

Airports can act directly on emissions from their own equipment and vehicles, heating systems and other operations, through electrification, energy efficiency, and the transition to low-carbon fuels. This requires a clear strategy aligned with the ACI sectoral Long-Term Carbon Goal (LTCG), while recognising that each airport will have different starting points and contexts.

2. Consuming clean energy is key to achieve/a successful airport decarbonisation  

Airports depend heavily on the electricity grid, whose decarbonisation is largely driven by the energy sector and public policy. Although airports have limited control over the carbon intensity of the grid, they can work with energy providers, regulators, and grid operators to explore solutions that improve access to reliable, affordable, and increasingly low-carbon electricity (e.g., power purchase agreements (PPAs).

3. Airports can help tackle aviation emissions 

While the largest share of airports’ emissions falls outside their direct control (e.g., Scope 3 emissions), airports can play an important enabling role by working with airlines, ground handlers, passengers and other partners to support broader emissions reduction across the aviation ecosystem.  

Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) are particularly important for supporting emissions reductions from aircraft operations. As described in ACI’s Airports and Sustainable Aviation Fuels Policy Brief 2026, airports generally are not involved in fuel procurement, but they can help create the conditions for SAF deployment by collaborating with airlines and fuel suppliers, advocating to regulators, communicating with passengers, or developing incentives. On this topic, ACI World will offer a virtual training course on Advancing Sustainable Aviation Fuels. 

4. Climate adaptation and resilience is becoming as important as climate mitigation 

There is another side to airport climate action that deserves much more attention: resilience. Depending on the regions, airports can be exposed to floods, storms, heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, sea-level rise, and other hazards. Infrastructure damage, operational delays or an airport closure can disrupt tourism, trade, supply chains, employment and regional economies. 

Adaptation needs to consider interdependencies: electricity, water, access roads, telecommunications, fuel supply, and emergency response. 

At VINCI Airports, climate adaptation is increasingly treated as a structured management process. Climate risk assessments are used to inform site-specific adaptation plans and support long-term operational resilience. Developed with local teams, these plans help integrate climate adaptation considerations into planning, investment, and operational decision-making. 

For me, this is one of the clearest lessons from airport sustainability: resilience is an economic investment, not only an environmental one. Resilience also has to be designed across the whole system, involving airport operators, airlines, public authorities, utilities and local communities, and supported by financing that enables proactive investment. 

5.  Airport sustainability goes beyond decarbonisation: circular economy, communities and noise management 

Beyond carbon, the management of water, waste, resources, noise and land use needs to be integrated into airport development from the beginning. 

Circular economy at airports also means acting on resources before they become waste. Across its network, VINCI Airports works on waste reduction, responsible procurement and inclusive recycling channels, with the objective of zero waste to landfill by 2030; in Cambodia, for example, waste pickers have been integrated into the recycling chain. Water management is another key lever, combining smart metering with reuse solutions such as rainwater, treated wastewater and water from firefighting tests where local conditions allow. At Salvador Bahia, treated wastewater is reused for toilet flushing, floor and area cleaning, fire protection systems and firefighting water jet tests.  

Local communities are part of the sustainability equation. Airports exist because they connect people and economies.  At VINCI Airports, we believe in contributing to local territories through employment, access, procurement, community dialogue and the way they manage issues that affect neighbouring communities. This includes local employment, accessibility, consideration of vulnerable groups, human rights and prevention of risks such as human trafficking. 

Noise remains one of the most sensitive sustainability issues for airports because it directly affects neighbouring communities. Addressing it requires monitoring, transparent dialogue, operational measures and long-term cooperation with airlines, air navigation services and public authorities. 

6. Airports can actively protect biodiversity 

Airports often manage large areas of land, which can have a significant environmental footprint but also create opportunities for nature.   

VINCI Concessions structures its biodiversity policy around three complementary actions: reveal, reduce and restore. For airports, this means first understanding local ecosystems through habitat and species surveys; then reducing the impacts of operations and projects through adapted green space management, lower pesticide and pollution impacts and better integration of biodiversity into design; and finally restoring natural habitats and developing nature-based solutions that create ecological value for local territories. 

Technology can also help at this stage. VINCI Airports uses high-resolution satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to identify soils, habitats and ecologically sensitive areas before field inventories, helping infrastructure planning avoid and reduce impacts on biodiversity.  

Airports can also protect biodiversity by helping combat illegal wildlife trafficking, which poses a major threat to species and ecosystems. 

Overall, the future-ready airport is the result of many interconnected decisions: renewable energy, energy efficiency, electrification, climate adaptation, biodiversity protection, circular economy, water management, aircraft noise management, community engagement, resilient infrastructure and collaboration with stakeholders. 

For me, that is what makes an airport truly sustainable. It is not an airport that only consumes less. It is an airport that anticipates risks, uses resources efficiently, protects its environment, supports its communities, and helps the entire aviation ecosystem transition. 

And perhaps most importantly, it is an airport that understands that sustainability is not a separate project. It is becoming an integrated part of the way airports are planned, financed, designed, and operated. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What can airports do about aviation’s emissions if they don’t control aircraft? They can work with airlines, fuel suppliers, air navigation service providers, ground handlers, passengers and partners, and can help create the conditions for SAF, other cleaner energies and operational improvements, through collaboration, advocacy to regulators, passenger communication and supportive financial mechanisms. 

Why is climate adaptation important for airports? Depending on their circumstances, airports may increasingly face floods, storms, heatwaves, droughts, wildfires or sea-level rise, entailing disruptions, damages, delays or  closure therefore disrupting connectivity, tourism, trade, supply chains, employment and regional economies. 

What does “reveal, reduce and restore” mean for biodiversity? It is VINCI Concessions’ three-step approach: understand local ecosystems through surveys, reduce operational and project impacts, then restore habitats and develop nature-based solutions.