China Airlines Collects Top Honor at National Enterprise Environmental Protection Awards

China Airlines, the Taiwan-based carrier, has won national recognition for its longstanding commitment to corporate social responsibility as well as the promotion of environmental protection and sustainability again. At the 4th annual "National Enterprise Environmental Protection Awards" (NEEPA) held by the Environmental Protection Administration of the Executive Yuan on 11/15, China Airlines was presented with the top " Giant Thumb Award " for its strong performance across the board in environmental policy and management, contributions to energy and resource conservation, pollution prevention and reduction, and environmental engagement. Chine Airlines was the only enterprise in the domestic transportation sector to receive the award. Concurrently, The Administrative Center building at CAL Park in Taoyuan had its Diamond-grade green building certification renewed by the Ministry of the Interior for its outstanding energy-efficiency. The active efforts made by China Airlines to promote sustainability and contributions to environmental protection have now received widespread recognition.

An award ceremony was hosted by the EPA for the 4th NEEPA with Minister Tzi-Chin Chang presenting the awards. China Airlines Senior Vice President Ming-Hui Lai accepted the Giant Thumb Award on behalf of the airline. Judging for NEEPA encompassed the overall environmental management operations, fulfillment of corporate social responsibility, promotion of green supply chain, green procurement, energy and resource conservation, and pollution prevention by enterprises. Businesses that submit their preliminary application go through a two-stage evaluation process before an on-site inspection is conducted by the judges. China Airlines was ultimately picked by the judges from a field of 83 businesses due to its impressive performance in every area.

The airline industry has been through very challenging times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, China Airlines stayed true to its ESG philosophies of sustainability and environmental protection, supporting international trends and national policy. The airline set a "net zero carbon emissions by 2050” policy and established eleven environmental protection and sustainability SDGs as its short, medium and long-term goals, while continuing to implement more than 70 environmental protection and energy efficiency KPIs. More recently, China Airlines set a target of using renewable energy to power 10% of its ground operations by 2030. In response to climate risks, China Airlines became the first transportation enterprise in Taiwan to release an independent report using the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, and is continuing to introduce Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) for the ferry flights of its new fleet. This year, China Airlines took part in the SkyTeam Sustainable Flight Challenge and launched Taiwan's first sustainability demonstration flight, featuring cabin supplies made from eco-friendly and renewable materials, low-carbon meals, and scrap management. To support international biodiversity and conservation, China Airlines signed the “Buckingham Palace Declaration” against illegal wildlife trafficking and issued the first "Declaration on Forest and Biodiversity Conservation" in Taiwan's service industry.

The fuel efficiency of the China Airlines fleet is among the best in the world thanks to the fleet renewal, fuselage weight reduction, flight operations optimization, and refinement of operations & maintenance strategies. The airline is continuing to optimize processes through innovative thinking to achieve further energy savings and carbon reductions in ground operations. China Airlines practices sustainable supply chain management and has made environmental friendliness its mission. China Airlines has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for six consecutive years, and has won the "Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Award" and "Climate Leadership Award" for eight consecutive years, as well as the "Global Corporate Sustainability Award" for three consecutive years. The SkyTeam Sustainable Flight Challenge also garnered China Airlines the Best Sustainable Innovation Cargo and Best Employee Engagement awards. In the future, China Airlines will continue to focus on corporate sustainability in order to realize its vision of “becoming the preferred airline of Taiwan.”