Yesterday, on the 2nd of June, an online event (a webinar), titled “How are Airport PPPs managing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals” took place. It was organized by the World Association of PPP Units & Professionals (WAPPP).
More than 70 prominent experts in the PPP from around the world have participated in the event.
In recent years, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the year 2030 has become a priority for most major airports and consequently, they have launched a lot of significant actions to address a majority of these goals.
The current COVID-19 crisis has accelerated, perhaps more in the airport sector than in any other sectors, the need to integrate SDGs into the management of all airports in the world. There are many reasons for this, whether it be the global airport policy recommended by ACI, the various public obligations of each country in SDGs matters, but also the constraints imposed in the financing of airport infrastructure.
During the event, leading PPP specialists from the Schiphol airport; an operator of many major airports around the world, Fraport; consulting company Modalis and other entities have shared their experience and recommendations regarding the strategic and tactical measures that can be implemented in airport and airport group management to fulfill the SDGs and to confirm with ecological and social standards during the challenging time of COVID-19 pandemic.
The lively discussion has resulted in the verbalization of valuable conclusions that will allow airports to recover faster after the peak of the pandemic and increase the capacity for sustainable development:
- The progress made in fulfilling the SDGs in airport PPPs must be measured in four areas: people, planet, prosperity and politics;
- For each SDG one or more measurable and relevant to the airport industry problematic issue must be identified;
- A systematic increase in the institutional capacity of governments in the field of PPPs is required;
- Means of fast restructuring of PPP projects, enabling them to adjust to external factors must be created;
- Airport PPPs must be shielded from political influence and dishonest market players.
The webinar was documented in a video and is available on the Secretariat WAPPP Youtube channel: