We have went over 4 out of 9 planetary boundaries, and out of the 4 boundaries, climate change and lost biodiversity have direct relationship to our airport’s operation. According to the Fronesys report, there are six factors explained why sustainability matter to our company, and what the potential risks & opportunities are. The best sustainability performers are the best performers, Operating efficiency is a sustainability virtue, Keeping out of regulatory trouble is a sustainability driver, Reduce reputation risk, Employees care about sustainability too, Business opportunities are rife in the New World. Therefore, as a VP Sustainability of YVR, I strongly recommend us to think about our company’s sustainability seriously in order for us to continue be the leader of airport industry. In the following slides, I will go through the details of how we are doing so far, and what we could improve, and what our goals are for the future.
The primary issues we have been focused on and the target for each are Reducing greenhouse gas emission by 33%, Reducing waste by diverting 50% of YVR waste from landfill, Reducing potable water consumption by 30%, Improving ecosystem health by having 0 storm water samples that contain more than 100 mg/L of glycol. We aim to achieve those targets by 2020.Those are exactly what we should focus on according to our planet’s current condition, and the target we set so far seems reasonable; however, when we look at the what we have achieved in the actual number, we can noticed that there are huge gaps between our target and our current performance in the next slide. First of all, we aim to reduce GHG emission by 33% from now till 2020. That is equal to 3028 tonnes GHG reduction. We have been aiming to reduce GHG emission for many years. In 2007, our GHG emission was 11632 tonnes. In 2012, our GHG emission was 9782 tonnes. We were only able to reduce 1850 tonnes of GHG in 2012 compared to 2007. Therefore, to further reduce 3028 tonnes of GHG seems like an unachievable target based on our current strategy. Secondly, we have already been able to divert 46% of waste from landfill in 2015, and we aim to divert 50% of waste from landfill by 2020. I have a feeling that we are cheating by setting the target too low. Thirdly, we aim to reduce potable water consumption by 30% by 2020. Last year, we are able to reduce 7% of potable water. I think we are on track of reaching our target. Lastly, we aim to improve ecosystem health by having have 0 storm water samples that contain more than 100 mg/L of glycol. We had the same target in 2014, but there were 4 water samples exceeding guideline. I believe what we have done to improve this the ecosystem did not work effectively and accordingly to our plan. Now, let’s compare our airport to Toronto airport. …show more content…
Toronto airport is ranked number two on Corporate Knight report, and we are not even on the ranking. Toronto airport has more than double of passengers than us each year, but Toronto have successfully reduced GHG emission by 50% since 2006, and we have only reduced 21% GHG emission since 2007. In addition, in 2015, Toronto successfully diverted 71% of waste from landfill in 2015, and we only diverted 47% of waste in the same year. By benchmarking ourselves to Toronto airport, we can see that we are way behind. Even smaller size airport like Edmonton international airport is ranked 27 on Corporate Knight, we are clearly a laggard in the airport industry. …show more content…
There isn’t enough information available regarding Toronto’s reduction on potable water consumption, but after benchmarking ourselves to Toronto airport, I believe that we have not done a bad job on Reducing waste, Reducing greenhouse gas emission, and Improving ecosystem health. We should continue focusing on our primary material issues as we are heading the right direction, but we need to learn from the best. WIth limited information I could obtain without requesting more detail information from Toronto airport authority. My first recommendation is to look at how Toronto airport did by funding toward energy-reducing project rather than purchasing Carbon Credit to reduce footprint. We should definitely implement the same approach
The primary issues we have been focused on and the target for each are Reducing greenhouse gas emission by 33%, Reducing waste by diverting 50% of YVR waste from landfill, Reducing potable water consumption by 30%, Improving ecosystem health by having 0 storm water samples that contain more than 100 mg/L of glycol. We aim to achieve those targets by 2020.Those are exactly what we should focus on according to our planet’s current condition, and the target we set so far seems reasonable; however, when we look at the what we have achieved in the actual number, we can noticed that there are huge gaps between our target and our current performance in the next slide. First of all, we aim to reduce GHG emission by 33% from now till 2020. That is equal to 3028 tonnes GHG reduction. We have been aiming to reduce GHG emission for many years. In 2007, our GHG emission was 11632 tonnes. In 2012, our GHG emission was 9782 tonnes. We were only able to reduce 1850 tonnes of GHG in 2012 compared to 2007. Therefore, to further reduce 3028 tonnes of GHG seems like an unachievable target based on our current strategy. Secondly, we have already been able to divert 46% of waste from landfill in 2015, and we aim to divert 50% of waste from landfill by 2020. I have a feeling that we are cheating by setting the target too low. Thirdly, we aim to reduce potable water consumption by 30% by 2020. Last year, we are able to reduce 7% of potable water. I think we are on track of reaching our target. Lastly, we aim to improve ecosystem health by having have 0 storm water samples that contain more than 100 mg/L of glycol. We had the same target in 2014, but there were 4 water samples exceeding guideline. I believe what we have done to improve this the ecosystem did not work effectively and accordingly to our plan. Now, let’s compare our airport to Toronto airport. …show more content…
Toronto airport is ranked number two on Corporate Knight report, and we are not even on the ranking. Toronto airport has more than double of passengers than us each year, but Toronto have successfully reduced GHG emission by 50% since 2006, and we have only reduced 21% GHG emission since 2007. In addition, in 2015, Toronto successfully diverted 71% of waste from landfill in 2015, and we only diverted 47% of waste in the same year. By benchmarking ourselves to Toronto airport, we can see that we are way behind. Even smaller size airport like Edmonton international airport is ranked 27 on Corporate Knight, we are clearly a laggard in the airport industry. …show more content…
There isn’t enough information available regarding Toronto’s reduction on potable water consumption, but after benchmarking ourselves to Toronto airport, I believe that we have not done a bad job on Reducing waste, Reducing greenhouse gas emission, and Improving ecosystem health. We should continue focusing on our primary material issues as we are heading the right direction, but we need to learn from the best. WIth limited information I could obtain without requesting more detail information from Toronto airport authority. My first recommendation is to look at how Toronto airport did by funding toward energy-reducing project rather than purchasing Carbon Credit to reduce footprint. We should definitely implement the same approach