I'm very encouraged by the initiative.  It's a practical approach which many airports are already embracing.  It's important that we tackle this issue - not only by measuring the carbon impact that an airport has, but also by taking realistic steps to reduce that footprint.

The involvement of the ACI EUROPE is invaluable.  It brings not only the potential for benchmarking and for spreading best practice, but also a system of independent verification which helps ensure that the public can have confidence in the results.

There will inevitably be a market impact both in terms of some people choosing not to fly and also with some passengers altering their travel plans on the basis of the environmental record of both airlines and airports.  The economic impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme may also have an effect on travel plans.

The current pressure on everyone in air transport to reduce their emissions can be expected to intensify.  An important aspect of this will be the introduction of incentive-based regulation, under the Single European Sky II legislation.

For many years ATM has driven aircraft fuel efficiency as a natural performance improvement for the industry. Until quite recently, most of ATM success in this area has gone unsung from a climate change standpoint.  The Performance Review Unit estimates European ATM average flight efficiency to be around 94%.  This is a remarkable performance for any industrial sector and even more impressive given that at the same time we are accommodating ever more traffic into the system, integrating civil and military operations, managing multi-airport terminal areas and accommodating noise routes etc.

We've achieved this success through many initiatives.  Central Flow Management has already significantly reduced the extent to which aircraft fly in holding patterns; better collaboration with the military has cut fuel burn and emissions by allowing aircraft to route through military zones where possible; Continuous Descent Operations help to reduce both fuel burn and also noise near airports.  We also are now seeing results from the Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE), in which there is close cooperation with the FAA specifically to address the climate change issue.

However, there is still much more to be done.  A particularly valuable approach is Collaborative Environmental Management.  Here we see the benefits of bringing all the parties at an airport together to come up with joint solutions for reducing emissions and noise impact.

SESAR is the future for ATM in Europe and EUROCONTROL is proud to be not only a founding member of the SESAR Joint Undertaking but an active leader of, or contributor to, over 200 of the 300 SESAR JU projects.

Crucially, we are leading a major Work Package (16 - Transversal Areas), which covers a range of topics including the environment. It not only addresses specific issues in these topics but it also provides support and coordination in these areas for other work packages.  That's because SESAR recognises that the environment is not a separate 'bolt-on', it has to be part of every work package, in the same way that safety and human performance are.

Indeed, the environment is the basis for one of SESAR's challenging targets - reducing the fuel burn per flight by 10% by 2020.  A key concept for achieving this is the introduction of '4D business trajectories' where the planned route of aircraft is optimised.  This includes not only reducing the route miles but also improving the vertical flight profile in order to reduce fuel burn.

Since the MoU was signed in November 2008, there has been constant and close collaboration between the EUROCONTROL and ACI EUROPE to raise awareness, to support and to facilitate the implementation of CDM and CDA at airports across the ECAC region.

An important element of this has been the roadshows in the UK and Germany.  More will follow - one in France is already on the drawing board.

Nine new airports have been awarded Airport Carbon Accreditedstatus in the past six months.

December saw Swedish airport Stockholm-Bromma Airport join its sister airport Stockholm-Arlanda in becoming accredited at the 'Neutrality' level.

In the UK, Manchester Airport qualified for the 'Reduction' level of accreditation in November last year. Manchester is a leader in environmental innovation across the entire Manchester airport group, serving more than 29 million passengers every year. Business-oriented Farnborough Airport was also accredited at the 'Mapping' level, an encouraging sign that smaller airports should also take action on Climate Change.

In January, Italy's SEA Milan Airports Milan Malpensa and Milan-Linate became the first airports accredited at the 'Optimisation' level. 'Optimisation' entails that an airport does not just reduce its own CO2 emissions, but engages with other operators on site to help them lower their carbon footprint as well. Also in January, Italian regional Bologna Airport was accredited at the 'Mapping' level.

Greece's Athens International Airport also qualified at the 'Mapping' level in January, followed by Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands in March. Both of these airports feature a 360° approach to energy saving and emissions including recycling targets and a photovoltaic park project in the case of Athens.

And also in March, Dubrovnik Airport in Croatia became accredited at the 'Mapping' level.