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sustainability

Sustainability

Explore Dubai Airports' commitment to sustainability through innovative practices that reduce environmental impact and promote eco-friendly travel.
Ambition

We focus on achieving sustainable progress by responsibly growing the business and contributing to the UAE’s economic development. We aim to integrate sustainability across all our operations to enable a connected world, add value to our society, be an employer of choice, support employee health and well-being, and protect the environment.

To achieve these goals, we have developed the ‘Sustainability Wheel’, a strategic framework designed to ensure a holistic view of our operations. This framework revolves around three interconnected themes that enable us to deliver our vision: Guests, People, and Business. It underscores the importance of delivering exceptional guest experiences, fostering a supportive work environment, and enhancing organisational efficiency for sustainability and continual improvement.

Our immediate priority is on the environment, particularly managing carbon emissions to address climate change contributing to the country’s zero carbon emissions goals by 2050. We value the importance of connection and collaboration to tackle climate change effectively in the aviation industry, believing that being connected makes us smarter, more resilient, and better equipped to transform airports and the aviation sector faster.

We believe sustainability needs to be addressed with the same urgency as safety. The aviation industry has deeply embedded safety into its core through technological investments, global cooperation with governments to set universal standards, and a proactive approach. Similarly, a significant change in mindset is imperative towards sustainability to ensure a secure, conscientious, and efficient environment. The only way forward is by working in unison – creating a better tomorrow, together!

Focus

Our primary focus is taking decisive action on climate change, achieved by reducing the consumption of vital resources like energy and water, to minimising waste, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. We implement this through our strategic partnerships and the integration of innovative technologies for effective measurement and impact at scale.

ACI accreditation
Dubai Airports has led various environmental sustainability initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint; strategic initiatives such as renewable energy, energy-efficient lighting, and a comprehensive waste management system.

Recent partnerships with Etihad ESCO to retrofit and expand our solar panels at DXB and DWC, and our partnership with BEEAH, which ensures that DXB continues to divert waste-to-landfill, and will continue to significantly contribute to our emission reduction efforts.  We’ve also successfully achieved a Level 3 accreditation, in the Airport Council’s International, Carbon Accreditation programme.

The ACI accreditation programme is the only airport specific, globally recognised carbon management standard that is designed to help airports map, measure and manage their carbon footprint all the way to net zero by 2050. Not only does the programme align with our mission to become the best airport in the world, it is the only standard that is aligned with the UAE’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris Agreement.

Partnerships we’re proud of

Bee the Change

Bee the Change

The declining population of bees could endanger our food supply and the livelihoods of millions – one of the many reasons we're proud to partner with PANGAIA’s Trillion Bees Coalition. By forming a science-led, non-profit coalition of individuals, businesses and organisations who are all focused on the protection of bees and pollinators, we’re creating a movement to engage people worldwide. Over the next seven years, we’re set to mobilise over 2 billion people worldwide, and aim to raise funds to support nature restoration and transformative projects to save our pollinators.

Airports of Tomorrow

Airports of Tomorrow

Paving the way for a sustainable future, we have united with Airports of Tomorrow – a joint initiative by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Airports Council International (ACI) – which aims to lead aviation towards Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050, by focusing on key sectors like energy, infrastructure and financing. This strategic collaboration fuels our commitment to sustainable aviation and drives us closer to our shared goal of creating a better tomorrow, together.

The Buckingham Palace Declaration

The Buckingham Palace Declaration

We became a signatory of The Buckingham Palace Declaration, underlining our commitment to helping eradicate the illegal trade in wildlife. The declaration was signed in the presence of Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge and founder of The Royal Foundation’s United for Wildlife’s Transport Taskforce. We reaffirm our zero-tolerance policy towards illegal wildlife trade and our commitment to working with taskforce partners around the world on information sharing and detection and the development and adoption of practical measures.

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