5. Multi-criteria Decision Aid (MCDA)
6.2 General Findings
through how they control aircraft on a daily basis, which includes improving the efficiency of airspaces, route networks and the investment decisions made regarding new air traffic management technology. Flight planning and flight management tools that allow pilots to exploit prevailing wind conditions, calculate precise fuel loads, set different flight levels and speeds for an aircraft to achieve the most economic performance and determine the exact centre of gravity of an aircraft as it becomes lighter in flight, are some of the key activities which ATNS assists with in optimising the flights of aircraft, thereby increasing the fuel-burn efficiency and consequently reducing the amount of CO2 emissions per flight.
Waste Management Act 59 of 2008. Climate change legislation is applicable to both entities and according to the JSE SRI; both companies are classified as high impact when it comes to climate change criteria.
Tongaat Hulett Sustainability Strategic Intent
Climate change response is being driven as part of the corporate strategy. Environmental performance is one of the pillars in their performance management system – the Balanced Scorecard for all employees. This statement by one of the executives explains this:
“And there are environmental initiatives as part of our Balanced Scorecard/Strategy.…ultimately it hits our pockets as well so at the end of the year when we check our Balanced Scorecard, your target, your bonus will be determined on that. That sustainability lag is very much a core part of what we are going to be measured on. So it is part of the strategy.‖
An introduction to Tongaat Hulett‘s Sustainability Strategy as posted on the company website (www.tongaat.co.za) reads:
―As a key player in agriculture and agro-processing, Tongaat Hulett has a responsibility to operate with a long-term view that takes into account how decisions and actions impact its on- going performance and affect the people, habitat, planet and resources associated with company operations. Sustainability is integrated within all facets of the business and is aligned to the organisation‘s overall objectives. This has direct benefit to the company and its stakeholders as there is an improvement in management‘s performance and operational efficiency that enables it to reduce the risk that could affect the realisation of strategic goals.
The company‘s participation in various voluntary sustainability reporting initiatives, including the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the CDP Water Disclosure Project and its listing on the JSE‘s Social Responsibility Investment index for the seventh consecutive year, is evidence that Tongaat Hulett is actively involved in environmental sustainability of which climate change is a part. The energy-food-water nexus is an evolving dynamic within Tongaat Hulett. The company balances the operational requirement for cane supplies to its sugar cane processing operations with the transition of agricultural land to other uses at the appropriate times (Tongaat, 2012).
ATNS Sustainability and Climate Change Strategic Intent
For ATNS, climate change response was identified as a strategic priority during one of their corporate strategy formulation sessions. One of the executives said:
―Interestingly, on the 11th May 2011 when we went out for our strategy session at Birchwood, one of the objectives which came out of the strategy was to have this climate change and sustainability. So it was actually birthed through the ATNS strategy and it came on into ATNS and currently it‘s sitting in the CEO‘s office. So it is the CEO‘s project…So it came from the strategy though the CEO and now it‘s cascading down the entire organisation.‖
Its stance on climate change as detailed in its Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy document (ATNS, 2012a) reads:
―ATNS‘ commitment to safety and promoting the wellbeing of stakeholders in the air traffic realm includes an on-going focus on environmental wellbeing. ATNS subscribes to the International Civil Aviation Organisation‘s Global Air Traffic Management Operational Concept. Amongst others
―environmental sustainability‖ is an expectation of the concept. ATNS is actively involved in a variety of activities and initiatives in support of this expectation.‖
The company‘s Environment Management Plan details the approach taken to further develop the initiatives identified in the Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy so as to develop a company-wide response to sustainability and climate change.
―The Department of Transport (Shareholder), ATNS Board and Executive fully endorses the approach taken by ATNS in recognising the strategic importance of climate change throughout the whole organisation and how the financial impacts of climate change are intrinsically linked to the physical, environmental, social and political relationships that surround ATNS.‖
ATNS has identified several environmental sustainability initiatives for the short-, medium- and long-term. Some of the key initiatives include noise abatement, where flight procedures are being designed to support compliance in noise abatement. Studies on noise profiling and noise contours are underway. Other procedures supporting the reduction of noise which are under consideration include the application of climb gradient restrictions, design of clean speed procedures, and continuous descent approaches (ATNS, 2012b). As an air navigation service provider, ATNS sees opportunities for carbon emissions reduction through fuel use reduction procedures such as optimised routings and flight level allocation; performance based navigation (PBN) with associated required navigation performance (RNP); flexible use of airspace (FUA);
reduced vertical separation minima (RVSM); gate-to-gate 4D trajectory management in continental airspace; dynamic information availability supporting tactical route decision making;
and other operational initiatives such as paperless ATM, electronic filing, centralised aeronautical database (CAD), paper recycling, etc.
The next section goes into more detail in explaining the similarities and differences in the drivers for climate change response, as well as the initiatives which each of the two companies are embarking on in response to the climate change risks and opportunities.