LATAM Airlines has just been announced by the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) as the airline with the best Sustainability performance in Brazil in 2022. The recognition is the result of the 2nd edition of the Sustentar Program, award created by the regulatory agency to encourage the development and improvement of sustainable practices by Brazilian airline operators and reinforce the sector’s commitment to the Environment and Sustainability. The award ceremony was held this Wednesday afternoon (21), at ANAC headquarters in Brasília (DF), with the presence of executives from the agency and the company itself.
To evaluate airlines, ANAC established 28 analysis criteria. They are part of the environmental themes addressed by the organizational management and environmental education program, energy transition, operational efficiency, atmospheric emissions and natural resources. LATAM’s Sustainability initiatives received the highest score among Brazilian companies.
The director of Corporate, Regulatory and Sustainability Affairs at LATAM Brasil, Maria Elisa Curcio, recognizes the award as a direct result of the company’s strategic efforts, mainly in the last two years, to minimize environmental impacts and position itself as an important asset for the entire Brazilian society.
“In 2021, we renewed our Sustainability strategy with short, medium and long-term goals, and we outlined a path to achieve them. We have transformed LATAM into one of the most involved companies, not only in the fight against climate change, but also in establishing a circular economy model and promoting the social development of the communities where it operates by sharing its greatest value, the airplane, to shorten distances and make a difference for those who need it the most”, says Maria Elisa.
sustainable goals
In May 2021, LATAM renewed its Sustainability strategy with goals to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, eliminate single-use plastics by 2023 and be a group with zero waste to landfills by 2027.
For this, in climate change management, it established the following work fronts: the reduction of emissions through operational efficiency and best practices, acquisition of even more efficient aircraft, acquisition of more sustainable fuels according to market availability, and as a measure complementary, offsetting emissions through the conservation of strategic ecosystems of high environmental value.
The main challenge for the decarbonization of the aviation sector is the availability of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), given that currently the amount available worldwide is limited, mainly due to the lack of necessary conditions for its research, development, production and distribution.
Advances in sustainability in Brazil
In 2022, LATAM achieved important advances in Brazil in its three pillars of Sustainability.
In the Climate Change pillar, the company was the first in Brazil to use electricity in ground operations. The pilot project, which involved more than R$30 million in investments, was developed in partnership with Real Aviation and BH Airport. As a result, since June 28, 2022, the Ground Handling operation of at least 50% of its flights in Belo Horizonte (MG) has been carried out by equipment powered by electricity instead of diesel. The initiative makes it possible to stop emitting 114 tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in 12 months at the airport in Minas Gerais. This volume corresponds to the equivalent CO₂ consumption of diesel-powered equipment used to support your current operation.
In the Circular Economy pillar, the company was able to reuse around 30 tons of used uniforms in Brazil through partnerships with upcycling (creative reuse) and reduce single-use plastic onboard by 77%, moving closer to goals of eliminating all single-use plastic from its flights by 2023 and being a zero-waste-to-landfill company by 2027.
In the Shared Value pillar, LATAM’s Solidarity Plane program benefited 1.4 million people in Brazil last year alone, with the granting of more than 700 tickets and the free transport of more than 600 tons of cargo and 150 animals of 17 different species in Health, Environment and Natural Disaster emergencies. With more than 10 years of existence, Avião Solidário has already benefited more than 140 million people in Brazil with the free transport of more than 921 tons of cargo, 4.6 thousand animals and more than 282 million vaccines against Covid-19 for all Brazilian states and the Federal District. The volume of vaccines, incidentally, is equivalent to more than 70% of the total doses shipped by the airline sector within the country since 2020.
Internal restructuring
LATAM Brasil has also just carried out an internal restructuring to promote a more strategic relationship with several stakeholders and reinforce its commitment to the country’s development. The changes concern its Corporate, Regulatory and Sustainability Affairs department, which has been headed by Maria Elisa Curcio since February of this year, reporting directly to Jerome Cadier, CEO of LATAM Brazil.
From now on, the following professionals take on new challenges and report directly to Maria Elisa: Tatiane Viana (now manager of Regulatory and Public Affairs at LATAM Brasil), Ligia Sato (now manager of Sustainability at LATAM Brasil) and Bruno Espinoza ( now Head of External Communications at LATAM Brasil).
Stay tuned to Adnews on Instagram and LinkedIn! For us, leaving the obvious is as obvious as creating and transforming.
The post LATAM is elected best in sustainability by ANAC appeared first on ADNEWS.