So, we all know that air travel emits all sorts of greenhouse gases, creating global warming and the like. One thing we may forget, however, is that airports themselves are pretty massive, and thus can create a lot of carbon emissions in their own right. So you might ask, “Well, what’s being done about that, hmm?” And today, I can tell you that 31 European airports have announced that they will work towards reducing emissions to zero (zero!). This includes airports in Paris (Orly and De Gaulle), Frankfurt (big hub), Milan, Athens, and Dublin. The group, however, did not provide a timetable for the reductions to occur. Reuters tells us why.

[Airport group] ACI Europe’s director general Olivier Jankovec told Reuters the group’s vast and diverse membership had made it impractical to set a deadline for airports to achieve carbon neutrality. “If we’d looked for a date, we would never have got agreement,” he told Reuters. “But we are engaging our members on the issue.”

Hey, at least a pledge is out there on the table. Over the long run, reducing emissions to zero will be a money-saving step, but of course, there will be an initial outlay of funds that will probably be pretty massive, no small task given that the aviation industry is shrinking in this economy. This only speaks to the seriousness of the group’s desire to cut emissions.

“The fact that we are doing this in the midst of the worst ever trading conditions speaks volumes about how serious we are about taking on the challenge of climate change,” said Yiannis Paraschis, chief executive of Athens International Airport.

Yeah, what Yiannis said. Ultimately, airport operations account for five percent of emissions in the aviation industry, which in turn accounts for two percent of global emissions. Seems like a fair amount from just one industry. So every little bit helps, yeah?

photo credit: flickrsven’s flickr photostream/Creative Commons