Christchurch Airport and nine European airports have received the Airport Carbon Accreditation Level 5 standard, which was unveiled by the Airports Council International (ACI) at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference this week.
Christchurch Airport chief executive Justin Watson said a lot of hard mahi (work) had gone into meeting the challenging criteria.
"Christchurch airport’s been working hard at this for more than 15 years.
"A dedicated team of people have gone above and beyond to get us here," he said.
Sustainability Transition leader Claire Waghorn said it was a very proud moment.
"This is a moon shot moment for our team. This is a challenging sector to abate and no-one is under any illusion — we have a whole lot more work to do," she said.
ACI Europe director general Olivia Jakovec said the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme marked ‘‘a pivotal shift".
"With Level 5, we establish a reference framework for achieving a net-zero carbon balance for airports – a milestone unmatched by any other industry to date."
