Environment and Climate
Environment and Climate
Air France-KLM’s contribution to climate change is due mainly to greenhouse gas emissions generated by its aircraft engines.
Climate change is one of the largest environmental challenges our planet is facing. Aviation accounts for around 2% of man-made CO2 emissions, but continuing growth in global air transport means this figure is rising. The effective response to this worldwide challenge must be international. An unprecedented step forward was taken in Montreal on the 8th of October 2010, when 174 member countries of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted a resolution which includes an objective to cut the aviation industry’s CO2 emissions. This represents a first step towards an industry-wide agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale.
As a major actor in this combat, Air France-KLM will continue to move forward in order to mobilise the whole sector. For several years, the Group is playing its part in the collective effort to further reduce CO2 emissions, particularly through our contribution to the development of sustainable biofuels, which will enable us to reduce our carbon footprint and in the future to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
Beyond their CO2 emissions, the main environmental impacts of airlines are noise, energy and water consumption, local emissions and waste production.
Thanks to pioneering solutions, Air France and KLM are making progress in reducing their impact beyond regulatory compliance. Despite the economic crisis, the Group continued to modernise its fleet in 2010, therefore cutting aircraft noise, its major impact for local communities close to airports. In order to limit its energy consumption on the ground, the Group is using various means, from electric vehicles to the construction of new buildings with the highest environmental standards. By getting involved from the birth of projects to the optimisation of planes’ end of life cycle, it implements ecodesign principles.
To this end, the Group mobilises the involvement and initiative of its staff and encourages its suppliers to roll out their own pioneering environmental projects.
