TIACA, Champ Cargosystems launch sustainability programme, global award

June 19, 2019: The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) and Champ Cargosystems have signed a long-term partnership agreement to develop a sustainability programme for the air cargo industry.

As part of the project, the TIACA Air Cargo Sustainability Award will be initiated to generate ideas and appreciate and stimulate sustainability initiatives in the air cargo sector. The winner will be announced in November 2019 in Budapest, Hungary.

TIACA will create a Sustainability Committee, which will act as a working group to build the programme and monitor delivery of the initiatives. The Association has pledged to organise at least one panel discussion or presentation focused on sustainability at each of its events.

"Sustainable development means being able to meet the business needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to find solutions to their own commercial challenges,” said Steven Polmans, incoming chairman of TIACA and director cargo and logistics at Brussels Airport Company

“In the aviation and air cargo logistics sector, in common with all parts of our society, sustainability has an increasingly important role to play. The development of long-term strategies and investment to achieve a sustainable industry is key to guaranteeing the future of air cargo and TIACA, as the only organisation representing all sectors of the supply chain, is in a unique position to drive that development," he added.

TIACA and Champ will work with members, partners, and industry representatives to establish a common vision on sustainability. They hope to develop, promote, and support several campaigns to tackle challenges connected to the three pillars of sustainability, namely, environment, economic, and social.

The call for nominations and details of the criteria and judging system will be announced in the following weeks.

“Champ Cargosystems is extremely pleased to establish this sustainable initiative in partnership with TIACA. Our commitment stands to jointly create a programme that will have a positive global outcome − first for society and then for business,” commented Arnaud Lambert, chief executive officer (CEO) at Champ Cargosystems.

“Sustainability is a subject often considered in the development of our IT solutions like CO2 emission calculator solutions, integration, or paper free solutions for the air cargo business but is definitely not limited to this only. We are looking forward to defining and implementing strategies for achieving positive and substantial results in Optimising our Environmental Footprint (OEF) and minimising logistics-related emissions or waste, for example," added Lambert.

"All this can only be done in synergetic collaboration with all industry players. Ultimately, each of us is responsible for tomorrow’s world and we are accountable for the future state of the Earth − not only for us, but also for those who will inherit it,” he concluded.