Four airports managed by the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) have joined the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme and achieved Level 1 “Mapping” accreditation.

In a statement, KAA revealed that Jomo Kenyatta, Moi, Kisumu and Eldoret international airports had achieved the milestone and recognition from the Airports Council International.

The Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, owned by the Owned by Airports Council International (ACI), is the only institutionally-endorsed global carbon management programme for airports.

The programme provides airports with a common framework for active carbon management using measurable goals to enable the airport industry to effectively reduce its carbon footprint, and benefit from increased efficiency through lowered energy consumption.

“Reducing the effects of our operations on the environment is an important goal for us. It is our responsibility to future generations to engage in efforts that counter climate change. This accreditation is an important step in the right direction for our main airports, as the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme provides a framework to optimize and, eventually, minimize emissions,” KAA Acting Managing Director Alex Gitari said.

KAA in 2019 launched its going green initiative seeking to become the greenest airport operator in Africa by 2022 in line with the Kenya airports authority’s 2018-2022 strategic plan.

The KAA strategic plan highlight’s environmental stewardship as one of its main strategic areas with the goal of obtaining ISO 14001-2015: Environmental Management System (EMS) Standard.

Airport Carbon Accreditation is an independent programme administered by WSP, an international consultancy appointed by ACI to enforce the accreditation criteria for airports on a yearly basis.

The program assesses and recognises efforts by airports to reduce their carbon emissions through six levels of certification: Mapping, Reduction, Optimization, Neutrality, Transformation and Transition.