CANSO helps Air Navigation Service Providers to reduce emissions on the ground

The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) has launched a new initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from air traffic management facilities. The new CANSO publication, Air Navigation Service Provider Carbon Footprinting: A Best Practice Guide, helps air navigation service providers (ANSP) measure, monitor and improve their environmental performance on the ground. 

Launching the new guide, CANSO Director General, Jeff Poole, said: “CANSO Members take their environmental and social responsibilities very seriously. The air traffic management (ATM) industry is already playing a vital role in reducing aircraft emissions through more efficient operations. ANSPs can also reduce emissions more directly by managing the environmental impact of operating the facilities they own and manage. This guide gives ANSPs the tools to do that and I encourage all ANSPs to measure their carbon emissions as a crucial first step in identifying and delivering environmental improvements.”

The aim of the guide is to provide ANSPS with a framework to establish tailored programmes to measure, monitor and reduce emissions from their ground-based facilities. It focuses mainly on the management of ‘estate’ related carbon impacts, such as emissions from powering ANSP buildings and the infrastructure associated with delivering ANSP operations and services. The guide is based on best practice by ANSPs that have well-established carbon footprinting programmes and includes case studies of how some ANSPs are significantly reducing their emissions.

The new initiative is part of the ATM industry’s successful efforts to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aviation. CANSO plays a full part in the aviation industry’s four-pillar strategy to reduce aviation’s climate impact: investing in new technology; improving operational performance; developing more efficient infrastructure; and market based measures. CANSO and its Members continue to focus on pillar two – improving the efficiency of aircraft operations; and pillar three – improving aviation infrastructure.  The ATM industry is helping to implement pillar two through procedures that enable aircraft to fly shorter, optimum routes and take-off and land with smoother trajectories, thus reducing emissions. For pillar three, we are working with States to modernise and upgrade their ATM systems to increase capacity and reduce delays, thus reducing emissions, increasing efficiency and ensuring a smoother experience for passengers.