Land managers with green spaces, such as airports, could be sitting on a valuable natural asset. This is the message from Olivier Taugourdeau, business developer of soil.is by Egis, which is helping airports to design carbon removal action plans for their own land assets using nature-based solutions that remove carbon from the atmosphere and increase biodiversity. We spoke to Olivier at the recent UAF Rencontres conference in Toulouse, where he presented on this exciting area of sustainability innovation.
Why should airports be looking at their land assets outside of their runway and buildings?
There are many reasons why. Airports’ natural assets, even their grasslands, have the potential to support airport Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments such as carbon neutrality. Those assets also have an economic value because when the carbon removal is certified it enables airports to reduce their purchasing of market-based carbon offsets.
When you work with an airport, what happens?
We start by auditing the land assets using remote sensing, artificial intelligence, and sometimes physical sampling to assess the current land carbon stock and additional storage potential. That analysis provides us with the data we need to propose a carbon removal strategy based on nature and the available land. Natural carbon sequestration is the process of removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it in soils and vegetation through plant photosynthesis. The approach we take aligns with the strategic aims of the customer. For example, with Clermont Ferrand Auvergne airport the aim is to increase carbon stocks and develop meadows with high sequestration potential, working with academic partners to offset 100% of Scope 1&2 emissions, and 40% of current Scope 3 emissions. For Abidjan Airport in Côte d’Ivoire the aim is not only to increase carbon stocks and achieve 36% offset of Scope 1 and 2 emissions, it is also to support to provide economic and social benefits to the local community through market gardening and environmental services contracts.
Once the strategy is agreed, the focus is on detailing and implementing the improvement projects with local partners, then monitoring, reporting and certifying the removals.
What kind of improvement projects take place?
The proposed projects are site dependant, but to give you some examples: for Abidjan Airport improvements include restoring five hectares of mangrove, rehabilitating 166 hectares of degraded soils, creating 55 hectares of market gardening areas, as well as initiating bio-waste collection and composting. Through the TULIPS project we are also supporting an experiment at Schiphol (Netherlands) and Larnaka (Cyprus) airports to assess the potential of biochar to improve soil health and create a carbon sink.
Which certification schemes does your work fall within?
All natural carbon removals reporting is compatible with international standards such as the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) protocol, ISO 14064, and the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This helps airports integrate their accounting with GHG reporting and ACA certification. Indeed, soil carbon sequestration with co-benefits is one of the requirements of the top level 5 of the ACA scheme, so it should be of interest to ACA scheme members.
This is a new and developing area of expertise, what experience has your team got?
For myself, I have a PhD in Ecology with 15 years of experience in soil science and remote sensing. At soil.is, we have a team of specialists in biodiversity, carbon landscaping, remote sensing and project management. Then we draw on more expertise from other Egis colleagues in topics such as hydrology, heat islands, urban integration and digital solutions. We also regularly partner with academic institutions to maximise innovation and the participation of local stakeholders. In the three years since we started, we have analysed hundreds of hectares and designed nature-based solutions that will store 2,000 tCO2eq per year, at between 10-100 Euros per tonne.
What are your top tips for airports considering making better use of their land assets to meet environmental goals?
We have found that the most successful projects involve local stakeholders. Getting them on board gives the project extra momentum and genuinely contributes to the airport’s relationship with its local community. Another tip is to work with experts who understand the certification standards and have relevant technical expertise. Remote sensing, field data and modelling are all key to success. We use them end-to-end in our projects to provide complete project management.
