Toronto Pearson achieves Airport Carbon Accreditation Level 4

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority, operator of Toronto Pearson, announced a major milestone in its environmental sustainability goals. The airport has received Level 4  -Transformation designation through Airports Council International's (ACI) Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) program. The GTAA is one of the first Canadian airports to receive Level 4 certification.

ACA is the only global, airport-specific carbon standard which relies on internationally recognized methodologies. It independently assesses and recognizes the efforts of airports to manage and reduce their carbon emissions through six levels of certification: Mapping, Reduction, Optimization, Neutrality, Transformation and Transition.

The GTAA has long been a leader in environmental sustainability, proactively putting in place a program to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2009. That strategy resulted in significant GHG reductions by 2020, earning it an Environmental Award in the Environmental Management System category from ACI.

In 2021, the GTAA released an Environmental Policy that includes a commitment to achieve net zero Scope 1 & 2 emissions (GHGs from assets owned and operated by the GTAA) by 2050. To do this, the airport is incorporating environmental considerations into all airport operations and capital projects.

"This designation from ACA reinforces that we're on the right path towards reducing GHG emissions," says Pat Neville, Vice-President, Airport Development and Technical Services, GTAA. "We're very proud of the hard work our teams are doing to find innovative ways to cut down on carbon emissions, but we know there is more that can be done. We'll continue to find ways to decrease emissions and will work towards achieving the next designation from ACA."