Melbourne and Launceston Airport rank first place in worldwide environmental, social and governance

Melbourne and Launceston Airports, both run by APAC, landed an overall score of 88 out of 100 - the highest score awarded to an airport worldwide, far surpassing the peer average of 67.

Each year GRESB assesses and benchmarks the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of real assets worldwide and monitors progress towards global sustainability goals.

GRESB Assessments are guided by what investors and the industry consider to be material issues in the sustainability performance of real asset investments and are aligned with international reporting frameworks such as Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and global sustainability reporting firm GRI.

Australia Pacific Airports Corporation Chief Financial Officer Grant Devonport said APAC's focus on sustainability and environmental targets contributed to the high score, in addition to improved stakeholder engagement activities.

"Over the past year we invested over two million dollars in energy efficiency programs across Melbourne and Launceston Airports, helping to reduce our carbon footprint and improve operational efficiency," said Mr Devonport.

"We will continue our efforts to be a leader in the infrastructure industry in ESG, and implement the actions needed to meet our Environment Strategy targets."

GRESB Director Infrastructure Rick Walters congratulated APAC on its win.

"We are delighted to recognize APAC for its global leadership in sustainability. This demonstrates the significant steps they have taken to incorporating sustainability into their operations and communicating their performance to investors. APAC has set a high bar for ESG performance in 2019 and an example for its peers to follow."