Important step toward Port of Oakland’s long-term environmental goals
Oakland International Airport, operated by the Port of Oakland, has been officially awarded Level Two status within Airports Council International’s Airport Carbon Accreditation [1] program. The award was presented at the Airports Council International North America 2023 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Long Beach, California last week.
[2]Airport Carbon Accreditation is an international program that requires its airport members to commit to activities that reduce emissions and provide evidence of effective carbon management procedures.
For Level Two certification, Oakland International Airport [3] (OAK) was required to:
- Develop carbon emission inventories for 2021 and 2022.
- Reduce carbon emissions year-over-year.
- Identify a non-binding carbon emission reduction target, to reduce by 50 percent by 2030.
- Develop a Carbon Management Plan.
OAK met all requirements and now maintains Level Two status. There are a total of six levels of accreditation—mapping, reduction, optimization, neutrality, transformation, and transition—in the comprehensive carbon management program, with the goal of lowering the airport’s carbon footprint. OAK is actively pursuing the next levels.
“The Port of Oakland is dedicated to its efforts to reduce emissions at Oakland International Airport, and OAK is proud to announce this milestone of achieving Level Two accreditation status,” said Craig Simon, Interim Director of Aviation at the Port of Oakland. “While we still have much work ahead of us to achieve our long-term goal of zero emissions, we wish to recognize and applaud this important accomplishment by our Port environmental teams.”
Long term, the Port of Oakland plans to reach zero emissions operations at OAK by 2040. The United States and Canada have committed to achieving net zero emissions at airports by 2050. The Airport Carbon Accreditation program has 548 airports participating worldwide.
Oakland International Airport is the main airport for the greater East Bay, the most populated area in the Bay area.
More information about the Airport Carbon Accreditation Program is available at the program’s website [4].