Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has selected SITA to provide a carbon management platform to monitor data on carbon emissions across the airport.
SITA’s carbon management platform, to be fully deployed by summer 2023, will collect and aggregate data on carbon emissions from a variety of sources within the airport. This will span scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and include data from 29 participating business partners across the airport value chain, overseeing services such as ground handling, aircraft maintenance, air cargo logistics, and catering. According to SITA, the platform will provide accurate, clear, and customisable visualisations of this data, giving HKIA greater efficiency and precision in its carbon reporting efforts.
HKIA, the busiest airport in the world for cargo and one of the busiest for passenger traffic, is home to one of the world’s largest terminal buildings. In 2012, the Airport Authority Hong Kong pledged to make HKIA the world’s greenest airport, reinforcing this goal in 2021 with the announcement of its 2050 Net Zero Carbon Pledge, a commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with a midpoint target of a 55% absolute emissions reduction by 2035 (from a 2018 baseline).
Airport scope 1 and 2 emissions stem largely from fossil fuel energy consumed to operate the terminal building, vehicles, and equipment, while scope 3 emissions — indirect emissions originating from the airport’s value chain and business partners — are more difficult to track and represent a significant contributor to overall airport emissions. In the case of HKIA, airport business partners account for more than 50% of airport-wide ground emissions.
HKIA has adopted an airport-wide approach for carbon management, working collaboratively with business partners to set carbon reduction targets and implement measures to accelerate airport-wide carbon reduction. While HKIA already has an online emissions tracking system, it does not unify emissions data collected from the many sources active in the airport environment, requiring more time-consuming manual processes.
Aggregating data streams
SITA’s solution, supported by leading net-zero technology partner Envision Digital, aggregates data streams from across the airport environment and participating business partners and consolidates these into a single customisable dashboard. Enabling the tracking of emissions data alongside key performance indicators towards HKIA’s Net Zero Carbon Pledge, the dashboard interface facilitates carbon performance tracking, providing the granularity to monitor individual emissions sources against specific targets. Having all available data in one place supports HKIA in aligning its carbon reporting to government and industry measurement standards such as ISO and complying with Airports Council International’s Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, which considers mapping of greenhouse gas emissions key.
Peter Lee, general manager, sustainability, Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK), said: “The development of this new Carbon Management System will provide comprehensive, accurate carbon emissions tracking against the long-term target for both AAHK and each of our pledged business partners, and serves as a foundation for transparent reporting. We are pleased to have found a partner in SITA, which has a firm understanding of the complexities of the airport environment and the ability to tailor its solution to suit our needs.”
Image: SITA
