IATA Launches Sustainability Certification Program for Airlines

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) launched the Integrated Sustainability Program (ISP), a certification program offering airlines a comprehensive sustainability management and assessment framework.

“The comprehensive ISP certification program validates that an airline is managing its sustainability efforts at the highest level and in the broadest context. It does this by integrating the monitoring of environmental, social, and governance measures and providing all stakeholders, regulators, and customers with a transparent view of the progress. This comes with the added value of being designed for airlines’ specific needs, making ISP a practical framework to inform decision-making while ensuring that airlines’ efforts are aligned with global best practices,” says Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s SVP for sustainability and chief economist.

Key takeaways:

·        Along with certification, the program includes training, consulting, assessments, guidance, and tools in four critical modules.

·        ISP certifications and modules can be pursued individually or as a fully integrated sustainability program. Certifications are subject to a recurring 2-year cycle of independent assessments.

·        The four ISP modules include:

Environmental Management: By incorporating ISO14001:2015 principles, IEnvA enables organizations to assess their environmental footprint systematically, manage compliance obligations, and develop targeted management plans for emissions, waste, water, noise, biodiversity, and pollution.

Sustainable Procurement: For the first time, the ISP brings ISO20400:2017-aligned sustainable procurement standards to aviation. This empowers organizations to evaluate and improve the sustainability of their supply chains and the goods and services they buy across environmental, social, and governance dimensions.

Social Responsibility: The ISP integrates ISO26000:2010, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and OECD guidelines into a certifiable framework to help organizations map social risks and opportunities. These encompass establishing customer protection and service, human rights due diligence processes, driving continuous improvement in community engagement and investment, for example.

Sustainability Performance: This program allows airlines to measure and monitor their environmental, social, and governance performance. Following the new ISP framework will support transparent reporting and informed decision-making in line with evolving organizational, regulatory, customer and investor ESG ambitions and requirements.