Today's Guest blogger is Robert O'Meara who is Communications Manager at ACI Europe.

So, it's that time of year again. Peak summer season. If you have been through an airport recently, you'll doubtless have seen for yourself just how busy it is. But in the journey from check-in to security to boarding your flight, what activities did you notice on the airport site?

In the midst of security threats, extreme weather and the many other surprises that aviation can often be affected by (volcanic ash, anyone?), sometimes it's all too easy to overlook the environmental efforts being made by an airport.

Airports all over Europe are undertaking all kinds of environmental projects: from changing the airport car fleet to electric or hybrid technology, to photovoltaic parks, enhanced water management and recycling projects. So much of these activities go unnoticed by the passenger.

Airport Carbon Accreditation - mentioned on a number of previous occasions in this blog - celebrated its first birthday in mid-June. In that first year, 20 European airports became accredited at one of the four different levels possible: 'Mapping', 'Reduction', 'Optimisation' and 'Neutrality'.

Year 2 of the programme kicked off on 17 June 2010. And already, it's clear that momentum has moved up a gear. In less than 2 months, all of these airports have already renewed or become accredited for the first time:

- Milan Linate & Milan Malpensa in Italy
- Istanbul Airport in Turkey
- Bologna Airport in Italy
- Stockholm Arlanda and Stockholm Bromma airports in Sweden
- Ankara Esenboga Airport in Turkey
- Athens Airport in Greece
- Farnborough Airport in the UK
- Umea City Airport in Sweden
- Antalya Airport in Turkey

Some of these airports are at the beginning of the programme -  mapping the emissions sources under their control on the airport site. But nearly 50% of those listed are reducing CO2 emissions, actively engaging with others on the airport site to reduce theirs and offsetting any remaining CO2 emissions under the airports' direct control - effectively running carbon neutral operations.

So if you're passing through an airport terminal in the weeks or months ahead, take a look around. You may notice more recycling bins. The bus taking you to the aircraft may well be gas-powered. And the aeroplane you're travelling on probably won't leave its engines running on the ground, as occurred in the past. And you may see a banner that says 'This airport is participating in Airport Carbon Accreditation'.

At Farnborough Airshow Hélène Gagnon shared with us the environmental initiatives being spearheaded by business jet and commercial aircraft manufacturer Bombardier. 

Watch the video to hear how Bombardier incorporates environmental stewardship throughout the production lifecycle; the company's leadership in establishing a carbon offset programme for business jet customers; and how Bombardier is helping the aviation industry 'walk the talk' with recycling at the air show

I have just found this video on CNN made during the Aviation & Environment Summit last year. We are already in planning mode for the 5th Aviation & Environment Summit, to be held in Geneva on 16 and 17 September. It comes at an important time for aviation - just a few weeks before the general assembly of ICAO - the industry's global regulator, and a few months ahead of the important COP16 climate talks to be held in Mexico.

Today's guest blogger is The Rt Hon Brian Wilson, former British Member of Parliament and current chair of Flying Matters, a UK coalition of aviation companies.

The UK Environment Secretary, Ed Miliband, recently declared that lower-income people should not be priced out of flying on environmental grounds. The UK Treasury appears to have no such qualms about airborne elitism since the impact of draconian increases in Air Passenger Duty, dressed up in spurious green clothes, will be exactly the one that Mr Miliband has rejected.

The vast majority of us take it for granted that we will, occasionally, be able to afford to visit friends and family in far flung places or to go on holiday abroad. It is a remarkable change from just 30 years ago when flying was still the preserve of an elite. It would be unjust and futile to implement policies designed to revert to that position.

The Government’s own figures confirm that the current rises in APD are expected to price over a million and a half people out of flying each year – with the prospect of much more to come.

The fundamental unfairness of these flight tax rises is evidenced by a recent study by the UK National Centre for Social Research which showed that people on low and middle incomes were most likely to stop flying altogether when prices were forced up, whilst those on higher incomes simply change to cheaper destinations.

The figures are eye watering. The tax will rise in stages so that by November next year a family of four flying to Jamaica will pay £300 in tax alone, compared with £160 now. The same family will pay £340 in tax to go to Sydney, more than double the current rate.

Research carried out by Populus showed that nearly half the population have loved ones living abroad and that many people combine holidays with visiting friends and family. The research also showed that cost of travel is the main factor in how often they can visit their loved ones abroad.

And what of those parts of the world which rely heavily on UK tourism to support their economies?  Kenya, Sri Lanka, the Caribbean, to name a few. There is real fear that the cost of flying to these countries will put off so many visitors that their economies will be badly hit.

If the blatant unfairness were not enough, the tax is completely ineffective in environmental terms.  APD is not hypothecated for environmental purposes. It doesn’t go towards research to reduce emissions either in aviation or other industries, whereas the aviation industry already spends more than £2.5billion a year on R&D to reduce its climate impact.

The UK is out of step on this issue given progress on ETS at EU level and the focus at the Copenhagen Summit in December on securing the inclusion of aviation in a global scheme to address its climate impact. Unilateral action by the UK government will cause economic pain for no environmental gain.

There is no economic or environmental justification for this socially regressive measure. As the UK public realise that the doors to the world are beginning to close for a large number of them, they may well express their disapproval at the ballot box. This time, The Environment Secretary is right and the Treasury is wrong.

CNN's Business Traveller show was at the Aviation & Environment Summit and produced this report, which is now showing on CNN International.

There has also been a range of other coverage, some of which is linked to below:

• Monsters & Critics: European Airports to cut pollution, move to biofuels
• eTurboNews: Global aviation summit explores low-carbon flight
• Forbes: Boeing, Airbus: downturn won't slow biofuels plans
• The Australian: Major airlines ready for green talks
• Reuters: Air industry chiefs call for global emissions deal
• Green Air Online: Two air navigation initiatives announced that could save over 13 million tonnes of CO2 annually
• USA Today: New plan to reduce plane's CO2 emissions
• Bloomberg: Airlines may use biofuels on flights in 5 years

Check out this video, wrapping-up the fourth Aviation & Environment Summit, held in Geneva over the past two days:

As the Summit 2009 wraps up, the industry looks towards the UNFCCC Copenhagen climate change and how the outcomes of negotiations there might effect our industry. The actions that the industry now needs to make have been layed out in the final Summit Communiqué. Download a copy here. The most interesting thing from my point of view is the need for the industry to ensure a good set of standards for biofuel sustainability as we look to this exciting future. The Summit is over for another year, but the work goes on!

Kevin Dobby, International  Aviation Adviser, acted as biofuels rapporteur for Day 1 of the Aviation and Environment Summit. He concluded that the biofuels technology works and that the drop-in model is the right one. However, there remain questions that need to be answered, such as standards for sustainability, as well as other economic factors. For his complete presentation, see the video below.

Kurt Schaad, Executive Producer for Swiss National Television, was the rapporteur for driving aviation efficiency. He explained that new initiatives are pushing 'out of the box', although numerous challenges remain in the areas of technology, operations and infrastructure. Schaad concluded by reminding us that 'all discussions need global solutions.' Click on the video to view his presentation.

Billy Glover from Boeing addressed delegates at the Aviation and Environment Summit about the future of sustainable biofuels in aviation. He explained that biofuels had moved from 'possibility to feasibility' and that the industry needed to adopt a 'can do' attitude.

To see the full presentation, click on the link below.