6.0

Supporting Actions

There are several tactics that support achieving all the action areas within the strategy. These are foundational to incorporating sustainability in all facets of the organization and at all levels of decision-making.

 

Applicable United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• Icon with “peace, justice, and strong institutions” verbiage and bird
Icon with “partnerships for the goals” verbiage and five intertwined rings

  • Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development (17.14)

  • Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries, in particular developing countries (17.16)

  • Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships Data, monitoring and accountability (17.17)

  • Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels (16.6)

  • Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels (16.7)

6.1

Project Environmental and Sustainability Assessment and Review

In 2021, YYC led more than 40 projects to repair or improve airport assets and operations. The Airport Authority’s 2021 capital budget was $23.786M.

  • All YYC-led major infrastructure projects will adhere to the ENVISION framework produced by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. ENVISON helps organizations incorporate sustainability into all planning, infrastructure and operations management (except building management; which is done by LEED).

  • All YYC projects and process changes will be assessed with respect to their impact on the sustainability strategy goals.

  • All YYC-led projects will submit data on their performance with respect to established KPIs at the time they are being conducted. This is currently a gap in the airport authority’s reporting that is a critical piece to fill.

Currently, all tenant and airport authority projects undergo a review to determine their effects on sustainability goals and identify potential environmental effects that require mitigation. This assessment work supports legislative requirements of the Calgary Airport Authority as a Federal Authority under the Impact Assessment Act and ensures that opportunities to achieve sustainability goals are identified early when projects or changes are being made.


Over the next five years, we will continue to assess all airport and tenant projects using a sustainability lens. Our project assessment and review process will be strengthened in the following ways:

6.2

Incident Management

The Calgary International Airport operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Environmental incidents are a common occurrence and are immediately responded to by our 24-hour Integrated Operations Centre (IOC). In 2021, the IOC responded to 87 spills or accidental releases to the environment. There were also 94 bird or wildlife strikes and 575 households that submitted a noise concern. A robust incident management system is critical to effective environmental performance and protection. Through the current strategy, YYC commits to the following:

  • Use data to develop a KPI for incident management

  • Modernize the management and investigation of incidents using digital technologies

  • Ensure all emerging sustainability-related risks are appropriately addressed in the YYC Emergency Response Plan

6.3

Stakeholder Communications & Engagement

Partnership and collaboration will be critical to achieving our sustainability goals. Through an inventory of stakeholders from past projects, we identified 130 different tenants at YYC and YBW. Currently, YYC has service to more than 84 direct destinations from 13 airlines.

Additionally, many of the objectives highlighted in this strategy require strong partnerships beyond the boundaries of the airport property. As major land uses, economic hubs, and points of entry to the Calgary area YYC and YBW are essential elements of the landscape, economy and social fabric of the community. Given these interactions with our community and environment, it will be critical to continue working with stakeholders outside of the airport to find shared opportunities to advance sustainability locally, which will support YYC’s own goals. This includes building local supply chains for goods and services, developing local system-wide strategies for an energy transition, and integrated watershed management. To support effective stakeholder engagement and collaboration, YYC commits to the following:

  • Establish a working group of airport partners to find opportunities to advance shared interests in sustainability

  • Share information on YYC’s sustainability goals, progress toward achieving them and the evolution of our strategy.

6.4

Reporting

Robust, scientific and verifiable reporting are the foundation for sound decision making. Such data will also support meaningful dialogue with stakeholders. As part of this sustainability strategy, YYC will undertake the following to support effective reporting:

  • Ensure sustainability-related metrics are established for at least one goal in each theme

  • Metrics will be reported using verifiable and established protocols and standards, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Science-based Targets Initiative, and the Airport Carbon Accreditation Program

  • Reporting will be publicly available.

6.5

Governance & Sustainability Culture

Ensuring that decisions taken at all levels of the organization incorporate sustainability considerations is critical to the successful implementation of this strategy. This includes decisions on the procurement of goods and services through long-term capital investments. We are working towards embedding sustainability into our collaborative decision-making across the organization. The following tools and approaches will be employed to build YYC’s capacity to incorporate sustainability into decision making and our culture:

  • Development of a framework of policies and standards, along with associated training and information resources to enable individuals and teams to incorporate sustainability into their work

  • Conduct awareness and engagement events for employees and the airport community

  • Strengthen the role of YYC’s Corporate Sustainability Committee in supporting significant organization-wide decisions

  • Encourage open dialogue on how our strategy can be adapted

Focus Areas