Leeds Bradford Airport celebrates sustainability milestones

Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) has achieved its highest score to date from The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), achieving a score of 95% and being awarded a 5-star rating.  

An independent organisation, GRESB provides validated Environmental, Social and Governance data for real estate and infrastructure businesses globally. To achieve a rating, businesses must complete an online assessment by providing raw monitoring data, as well as submitting evidence, in the form of certificates, policies and procedures. GRESB then uses this to measure performance.

LBA has been taking part in the GRESB assessment process since 2018 and has continued to see year-on-year improvements in ESG performance, which includes topics such as carbon management, waste, diversity and inclusion, employee satisfaction, health and safety and stakeholder engagement. It increased its score by 79% since taking part for the first time in 2018.

The news comes as the airport recently achieved a Level 3 ‘Optimisation’ accreditation from the Airport Carbon Accreditation, a global carbon management certification programme for airports, which is owned and governed by the Airports Council International (ACI). To secure Level 3, LBA has measured its Scope 3 carbon footprint (third-party emissions), produced a carbon management plan and engaged its third parties in carbon management and reduction. Third parties include airlines and various service providers, such as independent ground handlers.

Since 2018, LBA has seen a 67% decrease in carbon Scope 1 and 2 emissions - emissions the airport produces directly (such as fleet vehicles) and indirectly (such as electricity use). It has done this by improving energy efficiency both inside the terminal and out on the airfield. All electricity currently supplied to the airport is from 100% renewables.

These improvements will continue with the recently announced regeneration of LBA, which will help to further decarbonise its operations.

The airport is also taking part in a vehicle replacement programme which will see two electric vehicles introduced to the fleet in the next year. Infrastructure is also being introduced to allow for electric charging and fixed electric ground power for aircraft.

Beyond improvements to its own operations, LBA is working with airline partners to secure more modern aircraft to fly from LBA, which fly with reduced emissions and noise.

All these developments come as part of the airport’s 2030 Net Zero Carbon Roadmap.

Tracey Stevenson, Sustainability Manager from Leeds Bradford Airport, said: “We are so proud to have seen an improvement to our GRESB score again this year. To rank second out of ten UK airports is just a testament to how hard we strive year after year to keep improving.

“We see GRESB as a really valuable tool which not only allows us to benchmark our practises against other businesses but to uncover ways that we can improve processes to make the airport a great place for our colleagues and customers.”

Full details on LBA’s net zero carbon roadmap are available here. You can also read more about the GRESB here.