Jessica Briggs, Head of Sustainability, introduces our updated Greater Good strategy.
It's important to us at Edinburgh Airport that we embrace the opportunities, and challenges, that sustainability brings.
Aviation, like many other industries, has work to do in order to build a sustainable future. We need to ensure it continues to deliver the benefits it does to Scotland without compromising future generations. Since its launch in 2021 our Greater Good strategy has been guiding us on that journey.
The strategy itself is split into four pillars - Scotland's Best Business, Zero Carbon, Trusted Neighbour, and Enhancing Scotland - and I'm really proud of what we've achieved in each of these across the last four years.
So far Greater Good has delivered zero carbon improvements including the UK's first airside solar farm; 31 fixed electrical ground power units for aircraft; 44 new EV chargers, 25 new EVs across our fleet, and four electric passenger coaches.
So far as Scotland's Best Business goes we've formed four new employee champions groups; we restarted our Engineering Tomorrow STEM programme; and we supported 76 early careers work opportunities.
Through our Trusted Neighbour pillar we donated £470,000 to local groups through our Community Fund, supporting 162 different projects; we raised £260,000 through our charity partnerships; and we volunteered 990 hours of Edinburgh Airport staff time.
And the progress we've made in Enhancing Scotland includes the creation of a new wildflower meadow on-site to increase biodiversity; the building of our first ever fully sustainable security control post; and almost 300 signatories on our sustainable supplier pledge.
This is all fantastic progress, but we know there's so much work still to do. That's where Greater Good version two comes in.
This version represents a refresh of our existing strategy, better reflecting where we are as a business right now and taking account of our evolving maturity in terms of our approach to sustainability.
Things have changed. We're now part of the VINCI Airports group of more than 70 airports across the world. And we're always learning new things, refining our approach.
It's only right our strategy reflects this.
Some of the key areas of focus in the original Greater Good remain, but there are some alterations to mirror what's going on at the airport, within the aviation industry, and across the world.
There will be more on biodiversity following the publication of our first Biodiversity Strategy; support for a Scottish supply of Sustainable Aviation Fuels; more emphasis on volunteering and community engagement; and more around our approach to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
And it's not all about the big projects and big wins. It's about the many ways our passengers and staff can get involved. The recycling, the energy saving, the surface transport, and the charity efforts. All these contributions can add up to something remarkable.
In the years to come the airport plans to continue its growth - bringing even more benefits to Scotland and welcoming more passengers than ever before. But this must be sustainable growth, and the Greater Good strategy is designed to guide us towards that.
You can read our refreshed Greater Good strategy here.
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