ENAV’s Sustainability between COVID and Climate Change in the future of air transport

CARBON NEUTRALITY BY 2022

Rome, 17 December 2020 – The third edition of ENAV’s Sustainability Day -“ENAV’s Sustainability between COVID and Climate Change in the future of air transport”- took place today. The event, held for the first time in live streaming, featured representatives of national and international institutions: the Italian Minister for Infrastructures and Transport, Paola De Micheli , and the Vice-President of the Commission for Transport of the European Parliament, Christoph Oetjen .

ENAV is a strategic asset for Italy in airspace control – an intangible infrastructure managed as a sustainable resource, resting on two main pillars: technological innovation and the professionalism of its staff. These features make ENAV a cutting-edge service provider in Europe, also due to the implementation of projects aiming at reducing emissions, both on the ground and in the air, both directly and indirectly. The Free Route, for instance, allows aircraft to cross Italian airspace following direct routes replacing old flight corridors: in 2019 alone, in fact, airlines reduced CO2 emissions by 167 million kg.

As far as direct emissions are concerned, by 2022 ENAV will become a climate-neutral company, exceeding and anticipating the targets set by the European Union by almost 10 years.

In 2021 CO2 direct emissions will be reduced by 23%, reaching 80% by 2022. The residual 20% will be compensated for by financing environmental protection projects benefiting Italy as well as other countries.

This unprecedented goal will be achieved through several initiatives – many of which have already been launched – ranging from consumption-efficiency moves to the purchase and production of energy from renewable sources, including the gradual replacement of the car fleet with electric vehicles and the extensive use of smart working to further improvements in our staff’s working environment as well as their professional and private lives. Relevant to this strategy, there are also initiatives aiming at eliminating disposable plastics and the implementation of the green supply chain, as well as other welfare projects intended to enhance individuals’ work-life balance, the implementation of welfare policies, and the introduction of a new vision on diversity and inclusion as opportunities for building a better company.

Not only does ENAV aim to acquire a leading role in its core business: it also aims to become a role model in sustainable development – ENAV’s CEO Paolo Simioni stated. – We are a “frontline” organisation, committed to technological innovation, system digitalisation and increasing our employees’ professional skills. Now, we are also on the front line in managing remote-controlled aircrafts – drones -, a markedly evolving sector, in order to improve essential and strategic services to the benefit of individuals and the whole country. We are fully aligned with the SDGs set by the UN to promote human welfare and protect the environment. Our total dedication and commitment are making all this possible, also thanks to our fully “sustainable” Investment Plan, which will positively impact both our sector and the industries linked to it.

ENAV’s Chairman Francesca Isgrò summed up the proceedings of the third edition of the Sustainability Day: “There must be a shared aim to hold together all the elements contributing to make a company a sustainable organisation, a sort of leitmotif that runs through them: that is, responsibility for the choices made. Good governance is at the core of the success of all policies, even those regarding sustainability. Companies are held liable to the markets, the law, and, more and more, towards individuals and the public. To do so, they need a set of rules that could promote virtuous behaviour and guarantee a feeling of “shared understanding” and a willingness to “act as a system”, preserving those social and sustainability values which are essential to our Country’s ecosystem and which ENAV will always continue to lead in.”