CO₂ Emissions

For many years we have been committed to a series of actions for the control and reduction of direct and indirect emissions of CO₂ at the airport and deriving from airport management activities. 

Carbon dioxide emissions are subdivided as follows:

Scope 1 -  Direct emissions associated with sources owned or controlled by the group’s companies, such as fuels used for heating and operational means necessary for airport activities.

Scope 2 - Indirect emissions associated with the generation of electricity or thermal energy acquired and consumed by the group’s companies.

Scope 3 - Other indirect emissions deriving from the activities of the group’s companies but produced by sources not belonging or not controlled by the companies themselves, such as personnel work trips and home-work travel.

In 2009 ACI Europe (Airport Council International), in order to promote the contribution of the airports towards the fight against climate change, launched an initiative called Airport Carbon Accreditation: the project required the introduction of a series of actions for the control and reduction of direct and indirect CO₂ emissions by airport managers, operators, aircraft and by all those working within the airport system.

The Airport Carbon Accreditation established four possible levels for accreditation:

• Mapping – checking of emissions under the direct control of the airport manager (scope 1 and 2);
• Reduction - creation of an emission reduction plan (scope 1 and 2);
• Optimization – calculation of the emissions produced by the airport stakeholders and their involvement in the reduction plans (scope 3);
• Neutrality - the achievement of Carbon Neutrality in terms of emissions under the direct control of the airport operator (Scopes 1 and 2), with the purchase of offsets.

In 2017, SEA confirmed its European leadership positioning for both Linate and Malpensa airports within the 3+ neutrality grouping, together with 29 other airports, of which 2 Italian (Rome and Venice), representing 20% of European traffic.

The trend in Scope 1 emissions in 2017 is substantially in line with previous years. A significant decrease in Scope 2 emissions was brought about compared to 2016, in particular in relation to Malpensa Airport (-56%), due to a lower procurement of electricity during the year.

The reporting standard used (GRI sustainability reporting standards 2016) establishes two different calculation methods for Scope 2 emissions: "Location-based" and "Market-based".

The “Location-based” method requires the use of average national emission factors related to the specific energy mix used to produce electricity (the coefficient of the emission used for Italy is 406,309 gCO₂/kWh, Source: Emission factor for grid electricity @ Airport Carbon Accreditation Guidance Document Issue 9 v2: August 2015). The “Market-based” approach uses emission factors based on the contractual agreement for the provision of electricity. Given the absence of specific electricity agreements between the companies of the Group and the suppliers (e.g. a Guarantee of origin purchase), for this calculation an emission factor related to the national “residual mix” was used, which for Italy is 465.11 gCO₂/kWh – Source:  European Residual Mixes 2016, 2016).

CO₂ EMISSIONS of the SEA Group (tCO₂)

CO₂ EMISSIONS of SEA Group per traffic unit (kgCO₂/traffic unit)