Global air transport IT provider SITA has released its annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report, which reveals that, despite the pandemic, the company remains set to become a certified carbon neutral organisation by or before 2022. This achievement is well ahead of common airline industry milestones, such as 2030 and 2050, or those of the Paris Agreement.
SITA’s objective to reduce its contribution to climate change is being realised through the company’s Planet+ program. The program aims to define emissions, measure them working with independent environmental consultants RSK Group and consistently reduce the environmental impacts of operations with business travel year on year while complementing those actions with offsetting initiatives.
Through Planet+, SITA reduced overall emissions by 48 per cent in 2020, equaling some 11,423 carbon tons. This has been achieved through several initiatives such as switching to renewable or partially renewable energy, opting for green energy providers, optimising office floor footprint, reducing electricity consumption with more energy-efficient devices and reducing business travel for internal meetings through the use of collaborative online tools.
In 2020, SITA also offset 100 per cent of its emissions for the first time. SITA’s carbon offset program is managed through Natural Capital Partners, a leading global provider of sustainable environmental offset emission programs. The 2020 offset program was not applied purely to business travel emissions as in previous years but was extended to include all operational emissions reported and audited in Scope one (direct and controlled emissions), Scope two (electricity) and Scope three (upstream and downstream emissions, including those generated by SITA employees working from home).
Dr. Edna Ayme-Yahil, VP, Head, Communications, Brand and Sustainability said, “As part of our overall commitment to reduce carbon emissions across the air transport industry, we were keen to lead by example by taking real, concrete steps to reduce our impact on the environment. This is paying off and SITA is well on track to meeting our goal of becoming a certified carbon neutral company by or before 2022.”