Scope 1 & 2 ambition

Airbus has the ambition to reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 industrial emissions by up to 63% by 2030. The revised targets are in line with a 1.5°C pathway and include the target to neutralise residual emissions by 2030 following a Science-Based approach.

Objective

In line with its purpose to pioneer sustainable aerospace for a safe and united world, Airbus has been working for years to reduce its environmental footprint, including that of its products and services, and its production facilities. The objective is to:

Anticipate increasing environmental regulation
Foster employee engagement
Respond to stakeholder expectations

Airbus’ ambition to reduce its industrial emissions

Targets

Today, the high5+ programme identifies ambitious reduction targets covering our five most material environmental aspects:

Energy consumption
CO2 emissions
Water withdrawal
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) emissions
Waste production

These targets have been set in absolute value – with 2015 levels as a reference – as follows:

Energy and CO2: reduce energy consumption by 20% and reduce direct (Scope 1) and indirect (Scope 2) net greenhouse gas emissions by 63%* and to neutralise residual greenhouse gas emissions for those scopes by 2030. This target has been set following the “Science-Based Target Initiative” (SBTi) applicable methodology in line with a 1.5°C pathway
Waste: divert 100% of the waste from landfilling and incineration without energy recovery, and reduce the amount of waste produced by 20% by 2030
Air emissions: maintain a 0% increase of VOC emissions by 2030
Water: develop strong maintenance and rehabilitation programmes to reduce drinking (purchased) water by 50% with no increase in overall water withdrawal

(*) previous target was 40% by 2030

Action plan

Airbus is committed to further investing in and developing new solutions to achieve its Scope 1 and Scope 2 targets.

Specific measures include the following:

Securing at least 90% direct supply of renewable or low-carbon electricity for all Airbus sites in Europe before 2030.
Replacing lighting, heating and steam systems with biomass and geothermal solutions on our sites.
Improving our internal logistics by using SAF in our Beluga transport aircraft and flight testing.

Science-Based Targets

Established in 2015, the Science-Based Targets (SBTi) initiative helps companies to set emissions-reduction targets in line with climate science and the Paris Agreement goals. More than 1,000 companies have joined the initiative since its inception.

In 2022, Airbus officially committed to define Science-Based Targets for the entire set of its emissions. The following mid-term targets have been submitted to the SBTi for assessment and validation:

Scopes 1 & 2: -63% absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 2030** and neutralisation of residual emissions
Scope 3: -46% greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 2035**

(**) based on 2015 as baseline year